It Starts with Goodbye
by secretindulgence24
Summary: Spoilers for 4x07! Based entirely on the promo/early release pictures. Everything is changing for Damon and Elena and neither one is quite sure what comes next for them. But with a little patience and a couple of misunderstandings, they'll find their way to the opening dance of their relationship. Rated M for later chapters. Please read and review! :-)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone :-) Happy Thanksgiving! **

**For those of you who are reading my other story, "Coping with Consequences," I'm sorry for the delay. After the promo for 4x07, this story here grabbed me and would not let go. I had to write it before I could work on anything else. But I do have two more chapters to post for Coping and I will get those up as soon as I can. **

**I also have about four chapters of this story ready to go, so I'll be posting at least once a day for a while. I really hope you all enjoy this story. It's based on 4x07's promo and sneak peak pictures. I tried to create a realistic idea for the episode while also getting lots of good Delena time after a bit of misunderstanding amongst everyone. **

**Thank you to my marvelous beta - Hannah Taylor1. She hasn't been feeling so well but she read this story for me anyway. Go check out her stuff because she's awesome!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Damon poured himself a drink and lifted it, contemplating the amber liquid inside. He could drink it and it would take the edge off of the last two days, but it wouldn't make him forget that he'd just pushed the woman he loved straight back into the arms of his brother.

He knocked the drink back and poured another. Alcohol was a much better salve than knowing that he'd taken the high road and done the right thing by her. Lifting his drink, he toasted his mental Alaric.

"Women," He muttered to his long-gone friend, "They'll drive you to drink every time."

He needed a shower and a bed, and he needed it soon. Placing his glass back down on the table, he rejected the temptation for a third drink. He wasn't going to become a complete slosh every time Elena held his hand and looked at him with those big brown eyes.

Turning, he strode out of the room, intent on a scalding hot shower, and nearly ran into Stefan in the hallway.

"Walk much?" Damon muttered, stepping around his brother. "What are you even doing here? You're supposed to be on Elena duty."

"Yeah, well, now I'm not." Stefan spoke tightly, looking past Damon instead of at him. "She's with Jeremy."

"Jeremy? How is that supposed to help her if something happens?"

"What's going to happen? She's at home resting. Her house is safe from Klaus, and for once no one is after her." Stefan kicked at the baseboard, staring down at the ground as he muttered, "She's fine."

"She's traumatized." Damon spat. "She needs someone to be with her. Isn't that your _job_?"

"Not anymore." Stefan finally looked up and met Damon's eyes. "Elena and I broke up."

That shocked Damon right out of his fit. "Oh…"

"Yeah." Stefan raised his eyebrows. "So, no… I'm not going to be the one staying with her today."

Damon shook his head, his mind sluggishly attempting to process what Stefan had just said. "You broke up? What happened? When I left her she was firmly back in the love-Stefan-forever camp."

Stefan snorted. "I think you might be wrong on that front, _brother_."

Damon nodded, trying to piece it all together and figure out what in the world this meant for him. "I'm… sorry. Maybe I can… talk to her or…"

Shaking his head, Stefan took a step toward Damon, leaning in. "Don't. Let's not pretend that this isn't the best day of your life."

Not knowing what to say, Damon just looked at Stefan for a long moment before finally dropping his eyes. Shaking his head, he tried to bite back the question. It came out anyway.

"Is she okay?"

"Go find out." Stefan pushed past Damon, heading up the stairs, "Guess that's your job now."

Damon watched his brother head up the stairs and let out the breath he was holding. Reaching for his phone, he ran his thumb over the screen, wondering what he was supposed to do now. Leaning back against the wall, he ran a hand over his hair, closed his eyes, and dialed Elena's number.

She picked up on the second ring.

"Hi…"

He infused his usual casual cockiness into his voice, "Can I not leave you alone for a minute without everything going to pot?"

"You talked to Stefan?"

"If that's what you want to call it. Are you home alone right now?"

"I'm fine, Damon."

"So that's a yes." Damon rolled his eyes. "Where's Jeremy?"

"He went out to get a few things we needed. He won't be gone long…"

Damon looked up at the ceiling and sighed, pushing away from the wall. "I'm coming over, Elena."

He'd expected an argument, but she didn't give him one. "Okay. Damon, did Stefan tell you why he and I broke up?"

"He wasn't feeling particularly chatty for some reason." Damon muttered, heading for the door. "So why don't you tell me? I'm all ears."

She paused and let out a sigh. "Can we just talk when you get here?"

"Fine," He strode down his driveway, glancing around for any nosy passerbys. "See you in a minute." Slipping his phone in his pocket, he sped down the street, taking the backwoods shortcut to her house.

XOXO

Elena was curled up on her couch, clad in her favorite plaid pajama shorts and a matching yellow tank top. Pink, fuzzy socks warmed her feet and the blanket from the back of the couch covered her bare legs. On her lap, she held an old photo album, flipping through the pages that showed the first ten years of her life, smiling as she touched her parents' faces.

Damon made her jump when he threw open the door and strode in, letting it slam shut behind him. He was suddenly in front of her, looking her over as though he'd expected to find her distraught or anxious or hurt in some way.

Instead, she smiled at him. "Want to see a picture of Jeremy dressed as a vampire when he was six? It's kind of ironic… don't you think?"

He seemed taken aback by her causal question. "I suppose that's one definition of irony."

"You have to come over here if you want to see it, you know." She patted the cushion next to her. "I'm too comfortable to move, and I've been given strict orders to take it easy today." She smiled, "Orders from you…. Remember?"

"Elena…" He moved to sit beside her, watching her closely. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She reached over and laid her hand on his knee, squeezing him for reassurance. "Don't look at me like that, Damon. I'm not going to break."

He nodded. "I can see that. But I have seen you cry over my brother _too _many times, Elena. What's different about this time?"

"Everything," Elena gave him a small smile. "Stefan and I haven't been… connecting since my transition. You know that. We can't seem to be honest with each other and rely on each other like we should… we've never been able to recapture the trust we used to have."

"Elena…"

"He doesn't feel the same way about me now." She looked up at Damon, meeting his eyes. "It's hard for him to be with me… to understand me now. And honestly, it's hard for me to be with him. I feel so much pressure to have this all figured out, to make this easier on him, to stay that person that I was for him."

She sighed and reached for Damon's hand, linking their fingers, feeling the contact steady her immediately. "I think… I think I was clinging to the idea that if I could just love him the same way again and we could be together the same way again, then all of the horror and fear of the past year would be worth something. Maybe I thought I could hold onto the past if I held onto him. I don't know…"

Her eyes were trained on their joined hands and she lifted her free hand, skimming her fingers of the back of his hand, pressing his fingers between both of her hands.

"I just know that, as sad as it was to see that chapter of my life end today, there was … relief too."

He still was quiet and she lifted her eyes to his, trying to read the expression on his face. There was none of the softness in his eyes that she'd seen earlier. He merely looked at her, his hand lying still between hers.

"Damon," She tilted her head, trying to illicit a response from him. "Say something…"

He shook his head and looked down, "Elena…"

She waited, but he said nothing else. After a few quiet moments, his eyes lifted back to hers, but she had no idea what emotion was shining out of them.

Not knowing what else to do, she moved closer to him, lifting his arm around her shoulders. Leaning back, she curled against his side, resting her head on his shoulder. "Talk to me, Damon. Please?"

For one brief moment, he held her close and she breathed him in, letting herself enjoy him guilt-free.

But then he was up, standing in the middle of her living room with his hands linked behind his head, looking at her as though she was somehow simultaneously the most terrifying and appealing thing in this world.

She stood too. "Damon…"

He dropped his hands, shaking his head at her. "I'll… send Caroline to come stay with you. I have to go, Elena."

"Why?" Moving toward him, she tried to reach out to him, but he stepped back. "Damon, I don't have any idea what happened…"

"I know you don't."

"Then tell me." Elena moved toward him again. "Damon, please don't go…"

He surprised her by closing the distance between them, taking her face in his hands. "I would give you _anything_, Elena. I would kill for you, I would die for you, I would find a way to get you whatever you needed no matter what it cost. But I can't be here with you right now." He dropped his hands from her face, the intensity in his eyes fading to a sadness so deep that it shocked her. "I can't. You'll be safe with Caroline."

Before she could respond, he was gone, the door slamming shut behind him. Too shocked to do anything else, she sat down on the coffee table and stared after him.

XOXO

**So... I've been working really hard on this story and putting off some important school work to get it done. I would really love to hear from you guys - it would make working on this so much more worth it. So please leave me a review! :-)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Good morning everyone! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter - I loved reading your feedback. I'd love to get back to you each individually and I will try, but time is tight right now. Just know your comments make my day!**

**For all of you wondering about Damon's mini-freak-out, that's explained more in this chapter. There's not so much Delena interaction here, but we had to set the stage for all the truckloads of Delena interaction coming soon. But... since I know we all crave Delena, I'll post another chapter this afternoon/evening that has lots of scenes with them. **

**Anyway - hope you like it! As always, thank you to Hannah Taylor1. She's a wonderful beta and friend. Check out her profile for more lovely Delena stories. :-)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

The moment he got off the phone with Caroline, Damon ran.

He sped through town, coming to an abrupt halt at Alaric's grave. Standing there, alone in the graveyard, he grabbed a bottle of the beer he kept there and threw it against the rock wall, watching it shatter and spray.

He threw another bottle, then another, smashing his entire stash of alcohol before he sat down on the wall and dropped his head into his hands.

"Guess I should have saved at least one…" He muttered to the dead Alaric. Sitting up, he scrubbed his hand over his face. "How _pathetic_ is this? Don't laugh…but it turns out that the epic love I got passed over for was never that epic at all. They broke up today and she – get this – she's relieved. She says it was inevitable."

Damon glanced toward his right and found one beer bottle half hidden under some leaves. Grabbing it, he twisted the cap off and took a long, ineffective draught.

"You're thinking I should be happy." He accused Alaric. "That's what Stefan said, too. But what in the world is there to be happy about? I had a little _dignity_ when I could believe that she didn't pick me because Stefan was her one, true soul mate or whatever other destiny shit they always talked about. I had _accepted_ it. It was Stefan and it was always going to be Stefan. I was coping… being there for her in the way that I could…"

He finished the beer and threw it against the ground, hardly blinking when one of the shattered pieces cut his arm.

"Now it turns out all it takes for her epic love to fizzle is a month and a half of bad communication. And here I am… playing the best friend, holding her hand while she talks about her break up. When did I get so _completely _lame?"

The silence took over as Damon hung his head, trying to roll the situation around in his mind until it made sense.

"You know you're a terrible conversationalist." He muttered to Alaric. "And you suck on the advice thing too."

Shifting, Damon laid down on the rock wall, balancing as he stared up at the sky. "There's no excuse anymore, Ric. That's the real problem here. She was chasing after the idea of Stefan… not what she really felt for him. Or something. I don't even _get_ what she thought she was doing. I just know it means that even the _idea_ of Stefan is more desirable to her than the reality of me."

Closing his eyes, he pressed his lips together. "So quit trying to convince me this is a good thing. All it means is that I meant even less to her than I thought. The only answer to why she didn't want me is that she just… didn't want me."

XOXO

"Hey…"

Elena turned away from her window and saw Caroline standing in the doorway, sympathy clouding her pretty features. The blonde vampire walked toward Elena, perching with her on the edge of the windowsill.

"How are you doing?"

Elena attempted a smile. "I'm fine, Car. Honestly… you don't have to stay. Jeremy got home hours ago and I'm not going to fall apart if you leave. Promise."

"Can't do that," Caroline drew her knees to her chest and rested her chin on her arms. "Damon was clear. I leave you, I deal with him."

"Yeah…" Elena looked back out the window, "He's really concerned for me. I can tell by the way he won't answer any of my calls."

"Give him time," Caroline suggested, "It's been a weird couple of days. For all of us."

Elena nodded and kept staring out the window, willing Damon to somehow appear.

"Listen," Caroline continued after a minute, "You know I'm your friend and I support you no matter what, right?"

Elena nodded again, knowing what was coming.

"I thought Stefan was great for you. He was caring and understanding and patient…" Caroline reached out and laid her hand on Elena's knee. "But I know you two were having some trouble. And I know how you feel about Damon. I mean, I've known longer than you have how strongly you feel for him. So I'm not pretending to have all the answers here because it's hard. In a not so intense way, choosing between Matt and Tyler was kind of the same."

"But…?" Elena turned to look at her friend, waiting for the inevitable.

"There's no but." Caroline sighed and withdrew her hand. "You have to follow your heart and if your heart says Damon, then be with Damon. I'm just saying… you might want to think about this from his perspective, you know?"

"And what's his perspective…?"

"Well…" Caroline held up one finger, "First, you have to keep in mind that he is head over heels, desperately, heart-breakingly in love with you."

"Okay…"

"Second," Caroline held up another finger, "He's just as desperately and heart-breakingly insecure. The women he lets himself love never love him back and that can really mess with a guy's mind after a while. You might not realize it, and it's not completely your fault, Elena, but every time you tell him no, he hears you telling him he's not good enough. Trust me… I've been there. It's the worst feeling. He's not going to assume he's good enough for you now just because you broke up with Stefan..."

Elena swallowed hard. "But that's not what it means. He's never not been good enough for me…"

"Really?" Caroline questioned her gently, "You've never thought that he was beneath you? That he couldn't be the kind of person you wanted?"

Uncomfortable, Elena fidgeted. "Well not in a long time… no. I mean maybe at first, but that was so long ago and so much has changed…"

"It doesn't matter." Caroline shook her head. "He knows you felt that way and unless you told him at some point that he was good enough, or that he was the kind of person you wanted, he still carries that around with him."

A nagging feeling began niggling at her. "But…"

"Elena," Caroline cut her off, "Damon acts tough, but we both know he's not. He's probably terrified right now. You being with Stefan meant that he knew where the boundaries with you were and he knew that you were safe and happy. And… it meant that he knew why you didn't choose him – because you had this great thing with Stefan. Now he doesn't know what comes next. He doesn't know why you didn't choose him since it's obviously not because you were destined to be with Stefan…"

Elena took a deep breath, trying to wrap her head around what Caroline was saying. "You think he wants me to be with Stefan…?"

"No… I think he wants you to be with him. But the next best thing, yeah – I think that's you being with Stefan. He knows how that works and he can tell himself it's the right choice for you. Now… I think now he just has no idea what to think."

"If he had stayed and just listened…"

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but this is Damon. And, honestly… this is you. You're not always the most direct person, Elena. Why didn't you start with telling him that your feelings for him had changed?"

"Because I didn't want my relationship with Damon to begin the middle of a break up with his brother. Elena drew her knees to her chest and closed her eyes. "I wanted it to just happen naturally. Like it should. Maybe tomorrow at the pageant…"

Sighing, Caroline patted Elena's arm. "You might have to change that fairytale. There's too much history between you guys. After he's been rejected so many times, I don't see even Damon going for another romantic moment without knowing exactly how you feel."

"Maybe you're right." Elena rested her cheek on her arm, staring aimlessly around her room. "I just want to fix this…"

"I know." Caroline stood up, lightly rubbing Elena's back. "Maybe you can talk to him tomorrow. Get it all straightened out…"

Elena nodded. "Yeah… tomorrow."

"Speaking of which, we need our beauty sleep." Caroline plopped down on Elena's bed and burrowed under the covers. "It's bedtime. Come on, we can whisper about what a mess Tyler and I are right now before we fall asleep."

With a small smile, Elena gave in and got into bed beside Caroline, switching off the light. "What is with the boys in our lives?"

"They're all big fat supernatural messes." Caroline sighed, turning onto her back. "Too bad we're crazy about them, huh?"

XOXO

Damon walked the lawn of the Lockwood house, wondering how he'd ended up here dressed in a monkey suit, feeling completely out of place.

Stefan was avoiding him and he was avoiding Elena. Carol and Liz were busy with set-up and Jeremy and Matt didn't seem to be around. That meant Damon had exactly no reason to be here.

Except that he was only avoiding Elena in the sense that he desperately wanted to see her.

"Hey, you're here!" Caroline was suddenly beside him. "Elena was fine yesterday, but for the record, she missed you and you should have stayed with her. She would have explained everything…"

"Explained what?" Damon glanced down at the blonde, considering for the first time that Elena might have talked to Caroline about how he ran out of her house yesterday. Lovely.

Caroline just smiled. "Lots of things. Look, I think she's still inside but I know she really wants to talk to you so you should go find her. I've got to catch up with Carol and figure out what I'm supposed to be doing." She started to walk away, then called over her shoulder, "If you see Klaus, send him my way, okay?"

Damon stared after her. "_Klaus_…?"

"You called?" Klaus suddenly approached from the left. "Doesn't Caroline look positively delicious in that dress?"

"What are _you _doing here?" Damon turned, taking in Klaus' polished appearance and satisfied smirk. "I'm guessing nothing that I'm going to be happy about."

"I'm Caroline's date." Klaus smirked, "It was part of our little deal involving your Elena."

"Her date." Damon rolled his eyes. "I stand corrected. That I don't care about even a little bit."

"Good." Klaus's eyes were still on Caroline. "Then what say we call a temporary truce for the day. My attentions will be highly focused, and considering how stunning Elena looks, I'm sure yours will be also. We don't need to get in each other's way, do we?"

"Stay away from Elena and you can do whatever you want." Damon glanced back toward the house, scanning the area for Elena. "If you'll excuse me… I have to go do _anything_ else."

As he started to walk away, he saw Elena in the distance. She was walking out of the house, her hair twisted off to the side, wearing a dress that flattered her slender figure and long legs. For a second he felt like he lost his breath, but then she was walking in a different direction, heading for Caroline. She hadn't seen him.

Moving slowly, he began to edge over to her. When he got within a few feet he stopped, not sure what he was going to say to her. Stealing a glance out of the corner of his eye, he found her staring at him. Their gazes locked for a moment and she gave him a small smile that he managed to return.

Carol walked up to her, drawing her attention from him, and Damon could hear the mayor asking Elena who she should list as her partner.

Elena seemed to stumble, hesitating. It was obvious she didn't have a plan and, without thinking, he moved over to her, laying a hand on her back while smiling at Carol. "Great party, Carol. Here's hoping the weather holds."

"Damon, how nice to see you." Carol smiled warmly at him. "I'll get your name to our announcer right away. Excuse me."

Carol walked away, leaving Damon and Elena staring at each other.

"You look beautiful," Damon's voice was just a little tight and he looked down at the grass, "Too beautiful to come by yourself."

"Thank you," She spoke quietly, "And it wasn't my plan to come alone…"

He looked up to meet her eyes and found her looking at him with a mixture of rebuke and curiosity and… affection? "No, I guess you didn't have much time to prepare after you and Stefan…"

She sighed. "Damon, I was going to ask you yesterday if you would come with me. Why did you leave all of a sudden? Why have you been ignoring my calls…?"

"Elena…" He shook his head, not knowing what to say since his mind was attempting to process that she meant to ask him to come with her today. It would be so easy to let himself hope that she would have asked him as her date, but the realistic part of him knew better. He was her closest friend, her stand-in, and the only one guaranteed to be free and willing to take her once Stefan backed out.

"Damon?"

He knew he had to give her some answer, but was momentarily saved by Caroline's interruption.

The blonde took Elena's arm, "I know this is probably the worst moment to interrupt, but I just got a text from Stefan. He says he's out front and he needs to see you right away."

"Why?" Elena glanced up at Damon. "Is everything okay?"

"He didn't say," Caroline showed Elena her phone. "He said you weren't answering his calls and he needed to talk to you."

"I had my phone on silent…" Elena fumbled in her clutch, searching for her phone.

Damon ran a hand over his hair, mentally tipping his hat to the universe. The only thing worse than Stefan and Elena's epic love story being a farce would be watching another one of their precious reunions. His brother was obviously here to plead his case and win back the heart of his vampire damsel.

Oh, _goody_.

"You'd better go see what he wants." He told Elena, letting his eyes give away nothing as she looked at him. "He's not a patient man, my brother."

"Will you wait for me?" She laid her hand on his arm. "Please? There are things I want to say…"

"It's a nice day." He looked around, mentally disengaging himself. "I'm not going anywhere."

Elena nodded, looking less than enthused with his flippant response. "Okay…I won't be long."

Damon watched as Elena walked away and Caroline let out a huff.

"It's not what you think, Damon." Caroline gestured after Elena. "Why don't you after her instead of just standing here and brooding about her talking to Stefan. Your expression alone is enough to kill this party anyway."

Glancing at Caroline, he moved away from her. "It's not what I think? You keep hinting at something. If there's something I need to know then tell me. I'm not in the mood to play games, blondie."

"It's not my job to tell you this," Caroline nodded toward Elena again. "Just… go after her. Stick it out a little longer."

XOXO

**So our favorite couple is still a little broke right now. But don't worry - communication is on the horizon! :-) As always, please leave me a note. It means a lot! Have a good Friday, everyone.**


	3. Chapter 3

**THANK YOU to everyone who has been reviewing! I've gotten such a good response to this story and it makes me want to keep writing and writing for you guys. I'm glad you enjoy it and I hope you'll keep leaving me feedback! :-) You guys are all the best!**

**A special thanks to **WildYennifer** who always leaves such thoughtful reviews. And **Rebelliousheart** who took the extra time to send me an encouraging private message! And to** Tukct81, onerepublicgirl**, and **arosew** who all review everything I write and whose feedback I always look forward to.**

**Please check out Hannah Taylor1's profile/stories. She's my wonderful beta and a wonderful writer. You'll want to read her stuff!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

XOXO

Elena moved quickly toward the front of the house. Her high heels kept sinking in the soft dirt and she finally leaned over and pulled them off, carrying them in her hand as she started down the Lockwood driveway, looking for Stefan.

"Stefan?" She called, turning around.

"Elena," He jogged down off the porch and moved toward her, rounding her so that she was facing away from the house. "Why haven't you been answering your phone?"

"I've been here… " Elena tucked her hair behind her ear, not quite able to meet Stefan's eyes. "What is it? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing that's not under control." Stefan spoke quickly, "Matt called earlier. Jeremy and Tyler and a bunch of Klaus' hybrids drove out of town, apparently with a couple of kegs. Matt went because he couldn't convince Jeremy not to. He's keeping an eye on him."

"What?" Elena shook her head, "Jeremy wouldn't do that… he just killed a hybrid. Why would he go party with them?"

"I don't know what's going on," Stefan admitted, "But I'm driving out there. Matt told me where they were headed. I know Jeremy trusts Tyler, but he may still be in danger. I figured you'd get worried if Jeremy wasn't home tonight. He's far enough away that I may be gone overnight trying to find him."

"I should come with you…" Elena looked around, "He wouldn't just go with them on his own, right?"

"I think…" Stefan looked down, "I think he's feeling a little invincible right now. He's a hunter and he's killed and this is how he's dealing with it. I'll have better luck getting through to him on my own. Besides…"

Elena nodded, understanding his unspoken concerns. This was the first time they had talked since they'd broken up and it was more than a little awkward.

"He's going to be fine, Elena. I'm just going to go get him and talk some sense into him."

"Talk some sense into who?"

Elena turned and saw Damon a few feet away, slowly walking toward them. She stepped back to include him in the conversation.

"Jeremy left town with Tyler and the rest of the hybrids and apparently a lot of alcohol." She told him, biting her lip. "Matt called Stefan to let him know."

"Why would he do that?" Damon stood next to her now, "Is he _insane_?"

"I don't know." Stefan's tone was sharp. "I just wanted to let Elena know that I'm going after him."

"Stefan says he'll have better luck with Jeremy if I don't go…?" Elena looked at Damon, "How am I supposed to stay here and just wait though?"

"Jeremy's going to be fine," Damon gave her a small, reassuring smile that seemed to lack its usual effectiveness. "He can handle himself. And who knows… maybe they all just went out to party. It's possible…"

She gave Damon a look and he shrugged, "It's possible, Elena. And Stefan is right. Jeremy is growing up. He's not going to respond well to his sister crashing his boys' day out. Let Stefan handle it."

Reluctantly, Elena nodded at Stefan. "Call as soon as you know he's safe."

"I will." Stefan took a step backward. "Both of you stay away from Klaus as much as possible. If he even gets a hint that you know about the cure…"

"Be a little more obvious, brother." Damon deadpanned. "Just go save boy Gilbert. _Trust _me, Caroline has Klaus _plenty_ distracted."

Stefan nodded. "Fine. Elena, I'll call you..."

Elena nodded, wrapping her arms around herself as Stefan sped away. Sighing, she leaned on Damon out of habit, momentarily forgetting the awkwardness between them. "It's always something."

"He'll be okay." Damon rested his hand on her back for the briefest of moments before stepping away from her. "They both will."

Sighing, she looked up at him. "Will you come upstairs with me? I've got to… clean up," She looked down at her grassy feet, "And I really want to talk to you before everything gets started here…"

He looked toward the house. "Elena…"

"Please, Damon?" She laid her hand on his arm, "It's important."

"Fine. Lets… talk."

XOXO

Damon leaned against the wall, waiting while Elena rinsed her feet off in the bathroom. His mind was running through the variety of things she could want to talk to him about. Highest on the list was his reaction yesterday, and he wasn't sure how he was going to explain that. Or if he wanted to.

Still, talking about that might trump having to talk about her confusing feelings for Stefan and whether it had been a mistake to break up with him. That talk was inevitable, but he wanted a little more time to gear up for it first.

He looked up when he heard her phone ring from the bathroom. She'd turned it back on loud so she'd get Stefan's call, but this was way too soon for news from her knight in shining armor.

"Caroline? Hey… no I'm here. I just had to… clean up real quick. I'll be down in a second."

Damon shifted against the wall, his interest in the phone call already gone.

"No, I haven't told him yet."

That perked his interest again.

"Because, Car… I want to do it the right way. This is important. If I mess it up, things might never be the same between us again."

Damon stared at the bathroom door, mentally demanding answers from it. Whatever she had to tell him could possibly alter their relationship… that was a distinctly unsettling feeling.

"No, I don't know that." Elena continued in a hushed voice and he rolled his eyes. Like that was going to keep him from hearing her. "I want to be with him but after all this back and forth I feel like I don't know where he stands. I know he loves me but maybe it's not enough anymore… you know?"

A sickening feeling grew in the pit of Damon's stomach. She had to be talking about wanting to be with Stefan. That's what she had to tell him – that she'd made a mistake breaking up with Stefan.

"I hope so. Things have always been so fragile between me and Damon though." He heard Elena sigh, "After his reaction yesterday, I have no idea how he'll react to this."

Damon closed his eyes. She was getting back together with Stefan and she was worried about telling him, worried that it would change their relationship. She had reason to worry. He'd been upset when they broke up for all number of reasons but it was just as devastating to think of them getting back together.

And it was way more than he felt up to handling right now. Turning, he headed for the stairs, cursing under his breath when he heard her say goodbye to Caroline and open the bathroom door. Could he not just catch a break and make a clean escape?

She called his name as he reached the bottom of the stairs, and he turned, looking up at her beautiful, perfect face. Even right now in this horrible moment he couldn't deny that he loved her more than anything.

"Damon," Her eyes were wary. It was obvious that he had been walking away from her. "We need to talk…"

"We really don't, Elena. You don't have to run every aspect of your relationship with Stefan by me."

"What?" She stared at him, seemingly shocked by his response.

"Come on," He sneered, "Whisper all you want, I'm still going to hear you. You _know_ that. I don't want to hear about your latest realization that you want to be with Stefan after all or all your worries that maybe him loving you won't be enough. Your relationship with my brother is something I would _love_ to just be able to stay out of for once."

She was quiet, just looking at him as she walked down the rest of the stairs. "Damon…"

Something in him snapped and he found himself raising his voice. "I can't do this anymore, Elena. I can't stand to see you with him and I can't stand to see you without him and I sure as hell can't stand the back and forth. Maybe it isn't your problem that I happen to be in love with you, but would it _kill_ you to keep it in mind once in a while?"

"Damon, please…"

"If you're going to be with Stefan then _be_ with him, Elena. Just… don't talk to _me_ about it."

Using anger and hurt and confusion as fuel, he walked away from her, barely making it off the mayor's grounds before he broke into full vampire speed, putting distance between them as quickly as he could.

XOXO

**So... more miscommunication! Frustrating, right? **

**Don't worry - next chapter we get some very _good_ Delena communication. :-) Yes, that's me teasing the next scenes so that you'll keep wanting to read! **

**Don't forget - I'd love to hear your thoughts! **


	4. Chapter 4

**You guys are all awesome! Thanks for your reviews! I have had so much fun writing this story for you guys and hearing back from you. **

**Like I said in the description, this story is based on the promo and pictures from 4x07 and... for me, it's all been leading to this particular snippet of the spoilers. So I hope you enjoy! **

**As always, thanks to Hannah Taylor1 for her awesome beta job :-)**

**Oh and... if you aren't 18, then remember the rating...**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Enough was enough.

Elena had to admit. She'd screwed this whole thing up. To be fair, Damon seemed to be doing some screwing up of his own, but this was in her control. All she had to do was talk to him and all she was really doing was stalling. Waiting for the right moment… wanting it to happen naturally… letting every little thing get in the way.

If she was honest with herself, she was still letting fear get in the way of what she knew she wanted.

So enough was enough.

Taking a deep breath, Elena approached the boarding house. She wasn't leaving until she and Damon had fixed this. When he'd left the pageant, she'd gone straight home, stopping only to tearfully explain to Caroline. After hours of pacing her bedroom, crying into her pillow and learning from Stefan that Jeremy was alive but had a lot of explaining to do, she was finally ready to take this next step.

Now she stood at his front door, speech prepared, nerves on edge.

Not bothering to knock, she entered the boardinghouse. He was in the main room. Little sounds betrayed him and she closed her eyes for a moment, hoping that she didn't find him wasted or worse – with someone.

She got her wish when she found him staring into the fireplace. He'd changed his clothes, as she had, and was wearing his typical dark jeans and black button down. One hand rested against the mantle and the other held a full glass of bourbon. There was no way he hadn't heard her, but he didn't turn around.

Walking further into the room, she cleared her throat. "Damon…?"

"Leave it alone, Elena." He sighed, "Let me have tonight to brood and tomorrow we'll be back to being _besties_."

"That's not what I want." Moving toward him, she laid a hand on his back. "Please listen to me, Damon. I've been so… stupid. I've handled everything the wrong way and I need you to understand, even if you don't want to forgive me afterward."

He looked at her. "Why?"

She gave him a shaky smile, gathering her nerve. "Because I love you. So much."

Damon moved away from the fireplace, his eyes boring into hers. "What?"

"I love you." She told him again. The words felt good and the look on his face was a perfect combination of shock, fear, and adoration. She reached out and took his hand. "Will you listen to me?"

He swallowed hard, his eyes darting to their hands then back to her face.

He wasn't saying no, so she led him to the couch, sitting down with him and keeping his hand firmly locked in hers. "There's something I didn't tell you about Stefan and I breaking up yesterday. Everything I did tell you was true. We had been growing apart, and I was holding onto him for the wrong reasons. But it was more than that." She looked into his eyes and pressed his hand, "It was you, Damon."

He stared at their hands, still not saying anything, so she kept going.

"Stefan said he sent you to find me because _you_ were the one who could get through to me… make me listen. You were the one I relied on and trusted – not him." She reached out and turned his face up so that their eyes met. "You're the one I'm in love with. It's so obvious…" She gave a small laugh, "To everyone but me. And maybe you. But, Damon… I don't want to keep denying it anymore. I've been scared and stupid and blind and you have every reason to be as angry with me as you are. Just know that even if I've waited too long, I'm not going to keep lying to myself anymore. I can't keep pretending that you haven't become the most important thing my life…"

"Elena…" Damon finally spoke, breathing her name as waves of emotions rolled over his perfect features.

"Wait…" She smile tentatively, "I need to explain one more thing. I didn't tell you about this part of the break up with Stefan because I didn't want us to start that way." Looking down, she ran her fingers over the back of his hand. "I wanted it to happen naturally. Maybe even today." Feeling ridiculous, she shook her head at herself. "I had this idea that if I asked you to the pageant… we would dance every dance and somehow you would just know that I was ready for more between us. It was this whole… romantic dance scene in my head. It was silly."

His fingers were working over hers now, his thumb caressing her knuckles as he listened, seemingly afraid to interrupt her again, lest the whole moment disappear on him.

"You know…" She laced their fingers together, her fingers sliding along his and locking into place. "I was going to ask you yesterday to go to the pageant with me, but you left so quickly. Then you wouldn't answer my calls. I tried to tell you at the pageant too, but Stefan got in the way and then… "

"The phone call…"

She nodded, "You thought I was talking about Stefan…"

"Well, history does repeat itself," Damon made an attempt at flippancy but the intensity of his piercing blue gaze fixed on hers gave him away. "Honestly, I'm not sure I was thinking anything all that sane by that point." He dropped his eyes, "Kind of like I can't think anything sane now... but different. Elena..."

Hearing the question in his voice, she told him again, "I love you. I'm so sorry, Damon. For wasting so much time and handling everything so wrong. I took you for granted and you were right about one thing at least today. It was always easier to try to forget that you… love me. It made it easier to ignore that I loved you, too. I asked too much of you and took it for granted that you would come through for me like you always do. Damon, I should have picked you from the beginning…"

He stopped her apology with a look, holding her gaze for a long moment before he stood up. Crossing the room, he ran his hand over the antique record player in the corner. A few adjustments and music began to trickle out of it.

She watched him as he walked toward her and bent down to take her hand in his, gently pulling her to stand beside him.

"Dance with me."

She felt like her heart might start beating again when he drew her to him and slid his arm around her, his hand resting in the middle of her back. His other hand wrapped around hers and he held her gaze as they began to sway.

They were quiet, needing no more words between them. She smiled at him and he smiled back, his hand pressing hers. The song ended and another began. He still held her, so close that their noses brushed and their breath mingled. The love she saw in his ocean blue eyes entranced her, making her wonder why she'd ever wanted to look at anything else. Leaning into him, she surrendered completely, knowing nothing had ever been this right.

His lips brushed hers softly at first and she turned her face up to his, sighing softly as his mouth pressed more firmly. The kisses were soft and tender, but she could feel the restrained passion behind them. Content to move slowly, she let herself melt into him, meeting his lips again and again. He let go of her hand to cup her face, holding her to him, and she covered his hand with hers.

"I love you." He whispered the words just inches from her lips before leaning into to kiss her once more.

"I love you, too." She slid her hand back into his hair, holding him close.

His mouth trailed over her skin, moving to kiss down her neck. She reached back and gathered her hair to one side, giving him more room to work his particular brand of magic. Scraping her nails over his scalp, she urged him on as he used his tongue on the nape of her neck, sending chills through her.

He kissed his way back up her neck and found her mouth again, delving in deeper this time. More insistent now, he kissed her again and again and they lost the rhythm of their slow dance, stumbling back toward the couch.

Stopping for a moment, he pulled back to look into her eyes, his hand moving over her face. Keeping their gazes locked, he lowered himself onto the couch and eased her onto his lap. Already she was bringing his mouth back to hers as she settle against him.

They wrapped around each other, his hand sliding up and down her leg and over her side. Kisses turned more heated and urgent. She couldn't get enough of him, or at least couldn't get it quickly enough. This moment had only been a fantasy for so long and now it was real. He was touching her, kissing her… loving her.

"Damon," She turned toward him, sliding her arm around neck and threading her fingers through his hair. "I need…"

He kissed her deeply, his tongue sliding over hers. His hand moved over her neck and shoulder, down her arm, then back up to cup her face.

"What do you need?" He murmured, pulling back to look at her while his thumb stroked her cheek.

"You." She leaned in and kissed him hard. "More of you. I'm so tired of waiting."

She could feel his body's response to her words, and he scooped her up, lowering her back onto the couch, sliding his body over hers. He touched her face as he hovered over her, trailing the pad of his thumb over her bottom lip. "Tell me again."

She smiled, running her hands over the strong muscles in his back, his arms. "I love you. I choose _you_."

His mouth covered hers, speaking his emotions with the intensity of his kisses. Struggling, she worked her hands between them and began undoing the buttons on his shirt, eventually just pulling it open so she could run her hands over the bare skin of his chest. He sat up enough to let her push the shirt all the way off, then was back on top of her, granting her blissful access to his body. She kissed his shoulder as she raked her nails down his back and pressed her chest to his.

With a groan, he flipped them over, settling her on top of him so he could reach the zipper at the back of her dress. His eyes were on hers as he slid it down and slid her dress off her shoulders, exposing her skin to his gaze. She felt herself heat under the intensity of his eyes and smiled, letting her hair fall forward and block them from the rest of the world.

His hands guided her dress down and she lifted her hips, letting him slide it all the way off her. Kicking it to the side, she laid down in the cradle of his body and let his hands drift over her as they kissed.

"Elena," His deep voice was graveled with need and love, "I'm going to make love to you right here on this couch unless you tell me to stop. Tell me now… do you want us to wait?"

"No," She brought his hand to her breast as their eyes connected. "Don't stop…"

The passion he'd been holding back unleashed then and he turned them over, pinning her to the couch as his mouth and hands explored her. He touched her all over, driving her wild as her body reacted to him. It was like she could feel him touching her everywhere all at once, she could feel the love and the heat in his kisses as he covered her skin in them. He tasted every inch of her, sliding his tongue along her skin, sucking and nibbling at her until she felt like she was floating, awash in a sea of sensation and need.

When she could catch her breath, she held him still, sliding her hand down to open the button of his jeans and slowly slide the zipper down. Smiling, she kissed him. "This time, I'm staying for the show…"

He chuckled and helped her slide his pants down. As he kicked them off, he snapped the front of her bra, popping it open.

A spike of lust shot through her, but she looked down, raising an eyebrow. "That wasn't supposed to open in the front."

"I know," He smirked and kissed the valley between her breasts. "But now it does…"

"Mmm…" She closed her eyes as he enjoyed her newly exposed skin. "Damon…"

He held himself up, hovering over her, his strong arms surrounding her. She ran her hands over his biceps and shoulders, memorizing the contour of his muscles. Sliding her hand down his back, she playfully popped the band of his underwear.

"Off."

He kissed her hard before complying. Reaching down, he pulled the tight, black boxer-briefs off and tossed them aside before ripping the thin band of her panties and pushing them out of the way.

With nothing between them, they held each other, kissing and touching until neither of them could wait another minute. When they joined, Elena opened her eyes and found Damon staring down at her, love etched into his expression. She touched his face, tracing the lines of his features as she brought him close. They kissed languidly, growing more heated as the friction between them increased.

She called out his name as pleasure washed over her and he whispered hers again and again in her ear, telling her how much he loved her. Her arms wrapped around him, holding him close as they descended from their high together.

"I love you." She kissed his hair as his face rested against her neck.

She felt his smile against her skin. "I love you, too."

Reaching over him, she pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over their bodies, curling against him as they shifted onto their sides. His strong arms held her against him, cradling her to his chest as his leg slid between hers.

The room was quiet with just the crackle of the fire and the soft music in the background. He traced the lines of her face and she skimmed her fingers along his arm as they watched each other.

"You're not a dream, right?" He smiled as he asked the question, tilting her chin up so he could kiss her lips. "Because I've had dreams like this before and the morning after is always a real killer."

"Mmm no… I'm not a dream." She trailed her fingers up and down his side, tracing the ridges of his muscles. Lifting her eyes to his, she watched his face, taking in his contented expression. "You've dreamt about… _being_ with me before?"

Chuckling, he snuck another kiss. "Only all the time… asleep or awake."

She bit her lip, hiding her face against his chest. "Damon…"

He laughed outright then, sliding his hand down to her hips and pulling her leg more firmly over his. "You're embarrassed. That's… adorable… " Kissing her hard, he moved on top of her again, his hands roaming her body, "And _ridiculously_ hot."

She gasped as he nipped at the side of her stomach before starting at her navel and kissing his way up to her neck. Her fingers tugged at his hair, pulling his mouth up to hers. It was so easy to get lost in his kisses. He was a true talent, a perfect balance of soft pressure and probing thrusts. She could kiss him for years and never need anything else.

He pulled back, shifting so that he was lying beside her again. Teasingly, he drew the blanket down and ran his hand and eyes over her body. "You're perfect," He murmured, running his hand along her thigh.

"Damon?"

"Mmhmm…" He was still kissing her, moving his hands over her.

"Thank you."

He stilled, pulling back to look at her. Confusion was quickly replaced by an impish glint in his eye. "Elena, you don't have to thank me. I enjoyed it too."

Smiling, she lightly slapped his backside. "Not that. Just… thank you. For everything."

He stroked his hand down her face, his gaze searching hers as he waited.

"For always being there," She clarified, "For knowing when to fight for me and when to stand back and wait for me to figure us out." Looking up at him, she gently brushed his hair off his forehead. "You're a good man, Damon. And even if you don't want to admit it, you can be very… patient, selfless… loving. Just thank you. For not giving up on me when you probably should have."

She could see him struggling, this throat working as he tried to come up with words of his own. Smiling at him, she laid traced his bottom lip with her finger and suddenly his mouth was fused to hers, kissing her demandingly, passionately. He turned them over so that she was sitting above him, straddling him, her hair falling down around them.

Sliding his hands over her stomach, he stared up at her, drinking her in. She took his hands in hers, lacing their fingers together as she bent down to kiss him. The kiss lingered until she gently broke away, too tempted by the thought of exploring him as he lay beneath her. She kissed down his neck and over his shoulders, paying special attention to his chest and the ridges of his abdominals. Her hands ran over the muscled chords in his thighs and he put his hands on her hips, steadying her as she leaned back.

They made love again and she collapsed on his chest, spent and content. His arms wrapped around her as she shifted to lie against him and his lips pressed to her forehead. Drawing the blanket back up around them, he curled around her, shielding her from world.

"I love you." He murmured, pressing his lips to hers. She smiled and closed her eyes, finding his hand and threading their fingers together as she began to drift to sleep, the warmth of this body and the fire proving irresistible.

They still had things to talk about and work through, but now wasn't the time. Somehow, in the midst of their chaotic lives and tightrope walk-esque relationship, they'd manage to find their perfect romantic moment. He was holding her against him, his skin against hers. The intimacy created by their words of love and passionate touches still lingered, enveloping them in a world entirely their own.

For now, that was more than enough.

XOXO

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I would love to hear from you - I don't usually write such scenes and even though this was fairly tame, I'd love to hear what you think. **

**For those of you who are wondering, the story is not over yet. So I hope you stick around for the rest! Thanks for reading :-)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Good evening/morning/whatever time it is for you! :-) As always, I have to start by thanking YOU, all my wonderful readers. Your reviews for this last chapter were so fun to read! A special thank you to those of you who took the time to send me private messages about the story as well. You know I love hearing from you!**

**This chapter is a "happy place" transition piece to the next plot line I've got coming up. Somehow, this story has blossomed into something quite large in my head and I have many plans. I won't always be able to update so quickly since I still have a few weeks of grad work left this semester. So posts will slow down, but hopefully not too much. **

**Big hugs and thank yous to my wonderful beta, Hannah Taylor1. She's the best!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

The first flickers of consciousness tickled at Damon's mind and he tried to push them away, not ready to face the day yet. He clung to the vague memories of his dream… Elena's skin against his, her whispered confessions and soft sighs.

A warm body stretched against his and his eyes opened as the night's events came flooding back to him. Dancing with Elena… hearing her tell him she loved him… making love to her with the fire crackling in the background.

All his doubts of the last two days seemed so ridiculous now that she was wrapped around him, her small hand resting against his chest, her hair splayed over them both.

Brushing her hair out of her face, he pressed his lips to her forehead and tightened his hold on her, loving the way she sighed and curled closer to him.

"God, I love you."

She stirred at his words, smiling as her eyes slowly opened. "Mm…hi..."

"Morning," He kissed her softly, surprised when she almost instantly intensified the moment. Their tongues mated and he moved on top of her, more than eager for an early morning review of their activities last night.

The harsh ring of his cell phone interrupted them and he groaned, lowering his forehead to her shoulder. "We can ignore that, right?"

"Maybe if we were normal people," She ran her hand through his hair and loosened her legs from around his hips. "But we're vampires. Living in a town with lots of other vampires and werewolves and witches. When a phone rings, it's usually important."

"Logic." He muttered, kissing her one more time before he lifted himself off her and followed the sound of his phone to find his pants, hiding around the side of the couch. Lifting them up, he fished around in his back pocket and pulled out the source of their interruption.

"It's Stefan," Frowning, he answered the call. "_Please_ tell me this is important."

Glancing at Elena, he found her scanning his body as she sat on the couch, covering herself with the blanket. He loved that she could be so uninhibited yet still so sweetly shy. He waited while her eyes lingered, then met his again. With a flirtatious waggle of his eyebrows, he had her blushing adorably.

"Damon," Stefan's voice was impatient. "Is she?"

"Is who what?" With some effort, Damon refocused on the phone call.

"Is Elena with you? She's not at her house."

"Oh…" Damon glanced at Elena who nodded, "Uh, yeah. She's over here. We're…researching vampire cures."

Elena rolled her eyes at him and he shrugged.

"Researching cures… at 7:00 in the morning." Stefan's voice was tight, "Look, I've got Jeremy with me and we're coming over to talk to both of you. Yesterday's hybrid adventure led to some interesting information…"

"Interesting how?"

"We'll be there in fifteen minutes," Stefan ignored the question, "We can talk then."

Damon shook his head and hung up the phone. "Well, he seems to be in a _great_ mood."

"I bet." Elena wrapped the blanket around herself and crossed to him, kissing him lightly, "Finding us like this won't help that either…"

Sighing, Damon ran his fingers through her tangled hair, smoothing it out. "At the beginning I always figured that if I somehow won you away from him, I'd want to rub it in his face every chance I had…"

"And now?"

"Now I've gone soft." He pulled the blanket out of her hands and let it slip to the floor, taking her in his arms. "Who woulda thought."

He felt her smile against his neck. "You love your brother."

"Hmm. Let's keep just keep that our little secret…"

They indulged for a minute, her hand trailing down his spine while he smoothed his palms along her sides and over her hips. When she pulled back, she cupped his face in her hands and kissed him soundly.

"I know it's only been a few hours and we've slept through most of it," Smiling, she nudged his nose with hers, "But being with you makes me really happy."

He had to reign in the emotion that flooded him each time she reassured him of her feelings so he didn't overwhelm her with the rush. Covering her hands with his, he brought each of her palms to his lips, kissing the sensitive skin. "Elena, if you want to be dressed and presentable when Stefan and Jeremy get her, you shouldn't say things like that…"

She grinned and stepped back, "So I shouldn't tell you that I love you? Or that getting to watch you walk around without clothes is even more fun than I thought it would be?"

Growling, he lunged after her, catching her body against his. "Hell, Elena." His mouth found hers as they stumbled back toward the wall. He pressed her against the hard surface and worked on setting her body on fire. "What are you trying to do to me?"

"Damon," She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, "Mmm… we have to stop. Jeremy… here soon…"

"Don't care."

She pulled his mouth up to hers and kissed him senseless. "Damon…"

"Yeah, yeah." He sighed against her lips then stepped away, his eyes locked on hers. "We're finishing this later."

Biting her lip, she reached out to run her hands over his chest, tilting her head as she looked up at him. "I think as soon as they leave…"

"I knew I loved you."

They each began gathering their clothes. Damon pulled on his jeans and zipped them up, smiling over at Elena as she searched for her panties in the couch cushions.

"Damon?"

"Try behind the middle cushion," He suggested, picking up his shirt and assessing the damage to the buttons.

"No…" She stood up and looked back at him, "I know its not your favorite topic, but I think we should decide how to handle being around Stefan. This is going to be awkward for all of us."

Damon bunched his shirt up since it appeared fairly hopeless. Sighing, he ran a hand over his hair, smoothing down the mess her fingers had made, "I think awkward might be an understatement. Any brilliant ideas?"

"I don't want to hide that we're together, but I don't want to throw it in his face either." Elena finally procured her panties and inspected them, "Well these aren't going to work."

He crossed his arms over his chest, watching her. "Really?"

"No, look at them." She held up ruined fabric. "They'll fall right off."

"Not that," Damon studied the pattern of the rug, "You… don't want to hide that we're together?"

"Of course not." Elena looked up sharply, "I'm not ashamed to be with you, Damon. I love you. The only thing I'm worried about is causing trouble between us and Stefan because I know we both care about him. And we all need each other. We have to be able to stick together…"

"Elena," Damon watched her as he closed the gap between them, leaning in to kiss her gently, "You know this is going to be awkward no matter what, right? Even if Stefan somehow takes the high road here, which he probably won't, it's not going to feel natural for you and me to… be like this in front of people."

She looked down, "I know. So… I guess we just try to make it as easy on everyone as possible?"

"Well…" He smirked and lifted her chin with one of his fingers, "I'm not saying we have to be angelic. Especially since I plan on taking _full_ advantage of being allowed to touch and kiss you whenever I want."

"Oh yeah?"

"Ohhh yeah." To prove his point, he kissed her again, "But, at least around Stefan, why don't we just operate more… under the radar. You know, so he doesn't switch from bunny killer to people killer mode."

She smiled and let her eyes drift over him. "You're going to have to find a shirt then. He'll be here soon…"

Reaching down, he snagged her bra off the floor. "I have other shirts. The question is… do you have other bras here? Because this one has cupped its last breast."

"I do…" She looked up at him awkwardly, "I sort have a drawer. In Stefan's room."

"Hmm." Damon sighed. "See that's what I was talking about… awkwardness for everyone."

"Damon…"

Cracking a smile, he pecked her forehead. "I'm _kidding_. Take that gorgeous bod upstairs and cover it up. I'll clear the rest of the evidence out of here."

"Wait," She grabbed onto the waistband of his pants and pulled him back, "Tell me you love me first? You haven't said it in ages and ages..."

"I haven't?" He cupped her face in his big hands, "I've been thinking it all morning."

"So…"

Smirking, he kissed her. "I love you, Elena. And it's because I love you that you _have_ to get some clothes on. Word around town is I have _very_ poor impulse control."

"Good point," She stepped back, smiling at him over her shoulder as she walked out the room. "I love you, too. See you in a minute."

XOXO

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Coming up next: Situations start to get sticky and Damon and Elena have to figure out how to be together in the midst of "heartbreaking decisions" (from 4x08 synopsis) and various crises.**

**As always, I hope to hear from you. Your comments/feedback is what makes writing stories so much fun!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Happy Sunday, ya'll. I don't know about you, but its the last day of vacation for me before its back to reality. Hope you guys are getting to enjoy the day off, too! **

**A BIG thank you to everyone who has been reviewing. You guys are ALL awesome and you're motivating me to keep writing this story for you! Thanks for all your kind comments and to those of you who take the time and effort to really analyze the story and discuss it with me - a special thank you :-)**

**_Important: _I figured I had better explain my vision of Damon as we get further into this story. I see Damon as Elena's anchor - even before season 4. Being with him, in my opinion, will make her a little more stable, a little less anxious and depressed. He relaxes her and forces her to keep enjoying the little things in life. He jokes her out of her anxiety (a la The Last Dance - 2x18, where he teases her out of being worried) and she becomes more well rounded. So... even though Elena and Damon have a lot on their plates and big decisions coming up and insecurities about their relationship, she's going to be happier and steadier because she's with him. **

**I also see Damon as a natural caretaker. He needs to be taken care of, too, but his instinct is to be unwaveringly faithful and protective of those he loves. His devotion is limitless. So while Elena will be protective and nurturing toward him and help heal the wounds he doesn't even fully realize he has, its him that will shine as the real caretaker in their relationship. At least in the day-to-day stuff.**

**Anyway, I hope that helps provide some context as their relationship continues to evolve. :-)**

**Thanks, as always, to Hannah Taylor1. She's a great friend, beta, and author and this story wouldn't be the same without her!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Elena could hear voices in the living room as she made her way back down the stairs, fresh undergarments securely in place underneath her dress. She'd taken an extra minute to tie her hair back off her face in order to hide the tangles created by Damon's fingers, and an extra couple of minutes to make a symbolic change in the location of her overnight things.

As she walked into the living room, all eyes turned toward her, intensity radiating from Damon and Stefan. Setting that aside for the moment, Elena went to hug her brother.

"Jeremy, you scared me." She chided, stepping back to look up at him sternly, her hands on his shoulders. "It was dangerous to go off with Klaus' hybrids like that. You just killed one of them…They could have hurt you."

"They had something else in mind." Damon crossed his arms, widening his stance in the process. "They made Jeremy here a little proposition."

"What?" Elena looked at each of the guys. "What kind of a proposition?"

"Caroline explained to Tyler why Jeremy killed Chris," Stefan pushed away from the wall, joining in the conversation. "He was upset because Chris wasn't sired anymore."

"He broke the sire bond too?" Elena looked at Jeremy, searching his face for signs of guilt. "Jer… you didn't know."

"I know," Jeremy nodded, "But Tyler thinks they can all break the sire bond if they have enough time. He wants to help them break it."

"Okay?" Elena looked around the room, "What does that have to do with us?"

"Think about it, Elena," Damon spoke softly, moving toward her, "The only way to get Jeremy's map to appear is to kill more vampires. And the only vampires in town that are expendable are Klaus' hybrids."

It started to sink in. "So if Jeremy wants the map, he needs to kill the hybrids…? Klaus would never be on board with that."

"He might." Stefan suggested, "If he's sure that you'll be able to take the cure and give him more blood to make more hybrids."

She shook her head, not wanting to think about that now. "Okay… so what does Tyler want us to do instead?"

"Klaus gave them all the day off yesterday because he was with Caroline," Jeremy plopped down on the couch and put his feet up, "So they got together and convinced me to go with them. They want to make a deal that I won't kill anymore hybrids since they're not just Klaus' minions anymore. Or… they won't be for long anyway. In exchange, when they break the sire bond, they'll help take Klaus down."

Elena turned toward Damon, "So what do we do?"

"If we take Tyler's deal, we'd have to somehow keep Klaus from figuring it out until we can find the cure on our own," Damon shook his head, "There's only about a million things that could go wrong there."

"And if we don't work with the hybrids, then we lose Tyler as our inside guy and maybe Caroline with him. Not to mention we end up with a pack of hybrids after us once they're unsired." Stefan argued.

"Not if they're _dead_." Damon shot back.

"All this for the cure?" Elena sat down on the couch and leaned her head back. "Either way… Jeremy's doing a lot of killing. A lot of dangerous killing…"

"There's no way out of that part," Stefan said. "Killing vampires is the only way to get the map to appear."

"So why do we need the map?" Elena sat up, leaning forward, her eyes moving to Damon. "Maybe it's not worth it."

The older Salvatore's blue gaze was intense on hers. "It's a cure, Elena. That's a big prize…"

"Is it?" She tried to mentally will him to understand how she was feeling, "My brother kills over and over to get me a cure so I don't have to be a person who kills anymore? How does that make sense?"

"I can handle this, Elena. I'm a hunter." Jeremy sat up, drawing Elena's attention. "This is who I am now."

"It doesn't have to be." Elena shook her head, reaching for Jeremy's hand. "You have a choice, Jeremy. I didn't, and I would never want you to feel like that. You can choose, and as your sister, I'm telling you that I will support your decision either way."

"Elena," Damon sat beside her on the couch, though he was careful not to touch her. Still the new closeness between them was there and she felt slightly more at ease. "There's no other way to get the cure…not anytime soon, anyway."

"I know," She reached over and took his hand, "But I can't ask someone to sacrifice so much for the possibility of getting me something I'm not even sure I want."

Damon's hand tightened around hers, his probing gaze trained on her. "You don't want it?"

"I don't know." She dropped her eyes, wishing she could lean against him. Shaking her head, she let out a short laugh. "I mean no one's really asked me that, have they? Everyone's trying so hard to get this cure for me… Klaus wants my blood, Stefan just doesn't want me to be a vampire…" Glancing up, she met Damon's eyes again, "Even you assume that I want the cure."

"Elena…"

She cut Damon off, standing up, "Nobody even asked me if I wanted it. We're just making plans for Jeremy to kill who knows how many vampires so I can be human and Klaus can make who knows how many hybrids with my blood..."

Emotion was rising in her, magnified as it always was now. Needing room to breathe, she shook her head and held her hands out as though holding all of them off, "I'm not doing this again."

Walking out of the room, she sped up the stairs and into Damon's room, bending over and resting her hands on her knees as she tried to calm the panic that had unexpectedly risen within her.

Everything hinged on her decision. Again. People's lives hung in the balance and it all revolved around her.

Somehow, it was always all on her shoulders and she wasn't sure she could do it this time.

XOXO

Damon sent Stefan and Jeremy away with instruction to not move on the deal with Tyler until he gave them the word. They'd both been hesitant, Stefan to leave without answers and Jeremy to leave without an explanation for the sudden increase in Damon's involvement with Elena. In the end he had been able to put them both off. Climbing the stairs slowly, he approached his room and stood in the doorway, taking in the sight of Elena staring out his window, her arms wrapped around herself.

Lifting his hand, he knocked lightly on the doorframe. "Mind some company?"

"It's your room." She looked over her shoulder with a small smile. "Guess I sort of freaked out down there…"

"Maybe a little." He moved to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her chest and kissing her hair.

She leaned back against him, closing her eyes as her head rested against his shoulder. "Did they leave?"

"Mmhmm…"

They stood quietly for a few minutes. Damon ran his hand over her arm, taking a minute to enjoy the fact that he was the one who got to be with her in these moments now. He'd comforted her before, but this time there were no boundaries between them. He _was_ her support system now.

"So…" He finally murmured in her ear. "I hear you may not want the cure..."

"I don't know what I want."

"You sure about that?" He ran his hand over her arm, resting his chin on her head,

"Not really. You know, I figured you _wouldn't_ want me to take it. I understood why Stefan needed me to… why I might want to. But I thought you would be against it."

He closed his eyes, willing the selfish part of him to take a backseat for this one. "I'm not going to pretend that I don't want you for eternity. I do." Turning her around, he kissed her lightly, "But whether you're human or vampire or werewolf or a… flying monkey, it doesn't change the way I feel about you. Even_ I_ know this isn't a choice I can make for you, Elena. If you want to be human again, then this is your chance."

"How am I supposed to be the person I used to be?" She looked up at him, worry etched into her pretty features. "I'm different, Damon. I can't… go back to being the same as I was before I was different. It's not like I would forget all the things I've done and felt since I turned…"

"I don't know," He pulled her close, holding her against his chest, wishing he had something better to say. "But you know… even if you don't want the cure, we still have to look for it."

She moved back, looking up at him. "Why? For someone else…?"

"Maybe," He shrugged, lifting a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, "Or just to have it. Klaus wants it and that means _we_ need to control it. Not him."

Her eyes slid closed and she leaned back against him. "So Jeremy…"

"Still has to get his map. He's a hunter." He cupped the back of her head in his hand, hating to force her to face reality. "Hunters… kill."

Squeezing her eyes shut, she attempted to block out the world, "Can we just erase the last hour? I just want five more minutes to feel like I did when we woke up this morning…"

He could feel her soft lips press against his neck and reciprocated in kind, letting his lips graze over her skin."I'm not sure I can actually erase time…" He leaned back and kissed her before picking her up and laying her on his bed, "But I can definitely make you forget your own name…"

She hummed low in her throat, arching against him as he moved on top of her. "We shouldn't…"

Reaching underneath her, he unzipped her dress for the second time in the last twelve hours. Kissing her sweet, soft skin, he slowly undressed her, watching her eyes flutter closed as she yielded to him.

"Look at me, Elena."

She complied, her hooded brown gaze meeting his.

"Don't think about anything." He pressed his lips to her stomach, "Just let me make you feel good."

Her silence was all the permission he needed. He kissed her, drawing her in, seducing her with everything he had as he began to work his way down her body. She stretched languidly beneath him, her arms sliding up over her head in a gesture of total surrender.

A genuine happiness he'd almost forgotten was possible filled him and he channeled that back into her, his heart expanding with each of her soft sighs.

XOXO

Elena was having trouble keeping her eyes open. Her entire body was sated and warm and curled next to the man she loved. Somewhere in the part of her mind that still worked, she knew they needed to get up and face an impatiently waiting reality, but he felt too good and she kept losing her resolve to move.

"You okay?" He kissed her shoulder as he drew her back more securely against his chest.

"Better than okay," She smiled into the pillow and wriggled her hips against him, "You're too good at this. I'll never be able to keep up."

Pulling back, he gave her a strange look. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Flushing, she shrugged lightly. "You know… 160 years of experience vs. my two boyfriends worth of experience? I've never learned how to do… stuff. Matt didn't know anymore than I did and Stefan…" She paused, feeling awkward."

"And Stefan…?"

"He was always content with sort of a… set procedure." Squeezing her eyes shut, she rolled away from him. "I can't believe we're talking about this. Let's change the subject. There's a vampire cure, right?"

He laughed and pulled her naked body back to his half clothed one, moving her beneath him just enough to allow him to prop himself up over her. His long fingers traced the line of her jaw. "Elena…"

"I don't know how to have hot vampire sex." She blurted the insecurity she hadn't been aware of until just now, her gaze searching his. "And even though I think everything we've, you know… _done_ so far has been amazing, I know you're used to more than that and I just don't want you to get bored or…"

"Enough." The stern tone to his voice startled her into silence. He kissed her hard. "Don't _ever_ say or think anything like that again, Elena. Not unless you want to make me mad."

"Damon…"

"I mean it." He brushed her hair back from her face, looking at her with an odd mixture of intensity and tenderness. "I'm not ever going to get bored with you, Elena. Not if we had sex the exact same way every time for the rest of our existence."

She raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Everything you do, every look you give me, every _single _time you touch me, I want you. When you love the person you're sleeping with, you don't have to be able to play twister against the wall. It can be fun and we'll try it…" He smirked down at her, "We'll try it a lot. But you're already the best sex I've ever had and its going to seriously piss me off if you don't get that."

In spite of herself, she smiled. "I'm sorry?"

"Good." He leaned down and kissed her softly, "You should be."

"Damon?"

"What?"

"I love you, too."

He smiled down at her, "So I've heard." Sliding off the bed, he reached over and scooped her up, cradling her in his arms. "Now, come on. Time to get up."

"Mmm… do we have to?" She leaned her head against his shoulder as he carried her toward the bathroom. "Wait, what are we doing?"

In answer, he set her on the counter and leaned in to steal a quick kiss. "You've been doing a lot of cardio," He teased, moving to turn on the tub faucets and test the water. "Seems to me like you need a long…hot soak if you're going to be up for round four later."

"I don't have time…" She made a half-hearted protest, "Jeremy needs me."

He laid a finger against her lips. "We can hold off reality for a few more minutes. Besides, Jeremy isn't in any danger. He'll be fine."

"But the cure…"

"Ah-ah." Giving her a stern look, he shook his finger at her, "Now stop that. We have to find it no matter what, right? You can figure out if you want to take it during the next… however long finding it takes."

"Damon…"

"_Elena_," His pronunciation of her name was exaggerated, "Nothing bad is going to happen if you take a fifteen minute bath. Think about it this way. If it all goes to hell in a hand basket in the next half an hour, at least you'll smell good."

She rolled her eyes, then gasped as he bent down between her legs to open the lower cabinet beneath her. He fished out a bottle of something and kissed the inside of her thigh before pouring a good bit of the liquid into the running water.

"Damon…" She protested as he picked her up and lowered her into the water, then sighed blissfully as the warmth and the sweet smell and light pressure of the jets entranced her. "Oh…"

"Mmhmm…" He kissed the top of her head, "I'm going to go grab a blood bag for me and find a willing vein for you. Take your time, okay?"

She nodded, closing her eyes and slipping further into the water. "You're too nice to me. I'm already high maintenance enough with my vein feeding and hallucinations and general chaos…"

"Yeah, well… maybe I like maintaining you."

He started to stand up and walk out of the bathroom but stopped and turned, "Elena?"

She forced her eyes to open and look at him. "Hmm?"

"What do you think hot vampire sex means? Just… for my own enlightenment."

"You know," She shrugged, moving so that the jets hit her back in just the right spot, "Tearing clothes off and throwing each other around… biting. Right…?"

She narrowed her eyes at the smirk that instantly broke onto his face.

"What…?"

He crossed to her, leaning down to kiss her deeply, grinning as he pulled back. "I love you, Elena."

She started to respond, but he was already gone. For a half-second she considered going after him and demanding to know what he thought was so funny. Then the jets began pulsing and she lost any motivation to do anything else but enjoy one more moment hiding away from the world.

XOXO

Damon whistled as he descended the stairs into the basement of the boardinghouse. His step was light, his hands drumming the rhythm of the song in his head on his legs. As he turned the corner, headed for the cooler stocked with blood bags, he saw his brother.

Stefan looked disturbingly morbid, leaning over the open cooler, his hands braced on each side. His knuckles were white, his arms tight with the effort it took to resist the siren's call of the blood.

"Stefan..." Damon approached slowly. "What are you doing?"

The younger vampire didn't turn to look at Damon, "I'm trying to think of a reason to go hunt down a deer instead of drinking everything in here right now."

"Well," Damon casually reached in and grabbed a bag, turning it over in his hand, "There's the save-some-for-the-rest-of-us reasoning…"

Stefan just closed his eyes.

Sighing, Damon took his brother's arm and pressed him back, moving to stand between him and the cooler. "You don't want the blood, Stefan."

"Oh, but I do." Stefan started to move around him, but Damon stopped his brother with a hand against his chest.

"Don't make me stop you again," Damon spoke quietly. "The state you're in… you'll binge. And when you binge you go crazy and when you go crazy you kill people. Then the guilt makes you binge more. It's a whole cyclical thing. Spoiler alert, it _doesn't_ turn out well."

Eyes locked, the brothers stared each other down, both ready to spring.

Damon cocked his head, "What's it going to be, _brother_? Are you going to make me stop you?"

XOXO

**Tiny cliffhanger! Time for some brotherly discussions in the next chapter... Stefan's been acting like he's coping, but there may be more brooding behind that crowded forehead than he's been letting on. **

**You know what to do now! Go ahead and leave me a comment because hearing from YOU will make my day. :-) Thanks for reading!**

XOXO


	7. Chapter 7

**Slipping in one more chapter here for you guys before I head to bed. **** This chapter is dedicated to QUEQUOWLE! This awesome reader reviewed each chapter individually today and left me such fun comments to read. And since his/her last review came with a request to make the back-to-reality transition tomorrow a little easier with another post, here it is. **** QueQuowle, and ALL my wonderful readers, I hope you enjoy!**

**SPOILER: Beware that this chapter begins to touch on the synopsis for 4x08. It's not a big spoiler, but it does reference "Charlotte" – Damon's old flame. We're moving right along in the episodes here and I'm incorporating as much from the show as I can. **

**But… I don't buy into the standard fan interpretation of 4x08 and Damon's heartbreaking decision, etc. So this is my take on Charlotte and New Orleans and the potentially tough road ahead. **

**As always, my beta and friend, Hannah Taylor1 is awesome. Thank you, friend, for all your encouragement for this story and your hard work helping me get it right!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing**

XOXO

Damon whistled as he descended the stairs into the basement of the boardinghouse. His step was light, his hands drumming the rhythm of the song in his head on his legs. As he turned the corner, he saw his brother.

Stefan looked disturbingly morbid, leaning over the open cooler, his hands braced on each side. His knuckles were white, his arms tight with the effort it took to resist the siren's call of the blood.

"Stefan..." Damon approached slowly. "What are you doing?"

The younger vampire didn't turn to look at Damon, "I'm trying to think of a reason to go hunt down a deer instead of drinking everything in here right now."

"Well," Damon casually reached in and grabbed a bag, turning it over in his hand, "There's the save-some-for-the-rest-of-us reasoning…"

Stefan just closed his eyes.

Sighing, Damon took his brother's arm and pressed him back, moving to stand between him and the cooler. "You don't want the blood, Stefan."

"Oh, but I do." Stefan started to move around him, but Damon stopped his brother with a hand against his chest.

"Don't make me stop you again," Damon spoke quietly. "The state you're in… you'll binge. And when you binge you go crazy and when you go crazy you kill people. Then the guilt makes you binge more. It's a whole cyclical thing. Spoiler alert, it _doesn't_ turn out well."

Eyes locked, the brothers stared each other down, both ready to spring.

Damon cocked his head, "What's it going to be, _brother_? Are you going to make me stop you?"

With obvious effort, Stefan tuned a way, biting out, "I wasn't going to drink."

"Good," Damon closed the cooler lid. "Then you won't mind if we just… walk right on upstairs now."

"You two are together, aren't you?" Stefan rounded on Damon, intensity in his eyes as he demanded an answer.

Damon sighed and opened the blood bag, staring down at it rather than meeting his brother's eyes. This was a conversation he wasn't looking forward to even a little bit."You know we are."

"How long did it take? An hour? Two hours?"

"She came over last night and we talked," Damon finally looked up, trying to rack his brain for a the right thing to say, "Stefan, look…"

Stefan held up a hand, cutting him off. "Don't. I don't want to hear the speech."

"What speech?" Damon did a mental search. Was he supposed to have a speech on hand in the event that he began sleeping with his brother's ex-girlfriend within forty-eight hours of their breakup and then had to talk about how that made Stefan feel? If there was a speech like that, it would make his life a whole lot easier, but somehow he doubted it.

"Any… speech." Stefan leaned against the wall, eyes trained on the cooler, "I don't want to hear you talk about it."

"I get that," Damon took a long draught from the blood bag and moved to lean against the wall with his brother, figuring that honesty would work in a pinch. "Trust me. I know it sucks."

"Don't do that." Stefan shook his head, "I don't want to hear about how much you get what I feel right now. It doesn't help."

"Fair enough," Damon nodded, looking around the room, "But there are a couple of things you should know. The first is that, as a guy, I love her and I will fight for her – to keep her safe and happy and with me. I _refuse_ to feel guilty for letting her finally choose me."

"Is that all?" Stefan asked tightly.

"Nope. The second thing is that, as your _brother_, I'm sorry." Damon glanced over at Stefan, fully committing to the open and honest bit, "I wish there was a way we could all three have what we want, but there isn't. And as much as I love her, as your brother… this sucks for me too."

Stefan stared down at the floor, silent.

"So now what?" Damon glanced over at Stefan, "Oh, no. Don't tell me we're breaking up, too."

His brother cast him a dark look.

"That's so much more trouble than it's worth… " Sighing, Damon began a tally on his fingers, "We have to decide who gets the house for one thing. And trust me, my lawyer will eat yours alive. Then there's the furniture. You know we're both partial to the grandfather clock…That one's going to hurt no matter what."

"Of course." Stefan shrugged, pushing away from the wall. "It's all fun and games isn't it, Damon?" Shaking his head, he shoved his hands in his pockets, "All just a joke to you…"

Stefan started to walk off and Damon rolled his eyes, forcing himself to follow after him.

"Wait,"

His little brother paused, half-turning back toward him.

"It isn't a joke." Damon crossed his arms over his chest, staring pointedly at the wall just past Stefan's head. "Whether you want to hear it or not, nobody gets what you're feeling better than I do. All that anger and resentment and self-loathing you feel right now… it gets easier to manage."

Finally meeting Stefan's eyes, Damon tossed aside his blood bag and walked over to him, clapping his hands down on Stefan's shoulders, "You're my little brother. And believe it or not… I don't want to see you hurt. Neither does Elena. So…" He dropped his hands and shrugged, "If you need to clear out for a while then do it. We can hold down the fort here with Klaus."

"Not an option." Stefan's jaw clenched and unclenched as he studiously examined a spot on the floor.

"Yeah, I figured."

Damon waited for a second, then sighed and stepped around Stefan, heading for the stairs. "Just don't drink the blood, Stefan. It's the last thing we need right now."

"Damon."

He paused and turned back toward Stefan, waiting.

"She still has to drink from the vein, doesn't she?"

Apprehension nagged at him. "Not every time. She can handle bags as long as she has the fresh blood in her system."

Stefan nodded, "You should know. I called Katherine."

"_What_?" Damon's mind reeled for a second. "_Why_ would you do that…?"

"To see if your theory was right. That Elena's doppelganger blood was what made her have to drink from the vein." The younger vampire shook his head, "You were wrong. Katherine said she lived on just bagged blood for four years to avoid detection in some town she was in. Something else is affecting Elena's diet."

"Why would you trust Katherine?" Damon sneered. "She'd rather take a stake in the heart than give either of us a straight answer about Elena. _Thank _you, by the way, for making sure she knew Elena is a vampire now."

"I don't think she was lying."

Damon narrowed his eyes, "Fine. Then what's the answer, Stefan? If it's not her doppelganger blood, then what is it?"

"I don't know," Stefan crossed his arms, intensity and challenge in his eyes, "But I think Charlotte might."

"Charlotte…?" It took Damon a second to register the reference, but when he did, cold chills went through him. "No. Elena is nothing like Charlotte…"

"Not yet."

"Not ever," Damon spat the words, crowding into his brother's personal space, eyes blazing. "How could you even _think_ that?" Stefan started to respond, but Damon narrowed his eyes, warning him. "You're wrong."

"Am I? Or do you just want me to be?"

"You're wrong," Damon said again, his mind reeling with the possibility. "And you had better not put that idea in her head. _Ever_. Or our little bonding session here… means nothing."

"She's your girlfriend." Waves of ice-water would have warmed Damon more effectively than Stefan's tone.

"You're damn right she is." He practically snarled the words, anger overriding his surprise at the concept. She was his girlfriend. He would deal with that idea when he wasn't about to fling his brother across the basement.

Apparently Stefan didn't understand his precarious position. "All we'd have to do is go find Charlotte, assuming she's still around. Ask her about it."

"No," Damon held up a hand. "Elena is not like Charlotte. End of story. Happily ever after. There is no sequel."

Stefan's skeptical expression and preachy silence was fraying his last nerve and Damon turned, punching the handrail of the staircase with his fist before speeding back up to his bedroom.

He found Elena standing in his bathroom, leisurely drying off her damp body with one of his towels. Her long wet hair hung around her slender frame, giving her an ethereal look. When she lifted her eyes to his, she smiled, snapping his self-control.

Closing the distance between them, he took her face in his hands and kissed her roughly, releasing the fear and anger still churning within him. Shocked, she struggled to keep up, her hands latching onto his arms to steady herself as he made a genuine attempt to consume her.

"Damon," She ran her hands over his face, soothing him, "What's wrong?"

He ignored the question, needing to keep feeling her, holding her, tasting her. But he gentled his approach, drawing her in with less intensity. Whether she just got caught up in the moment or somehow understood his need, she responded to him, threading her hand through his hair and anchoring him to her.

The feel of her body, solid and yielding in his arms, steadied him and he wrapped around her, gradually easing the kiss into a soft, gentle rhythm. His hand trailed over her face and down her neck, caressing her in apology for his abrupt affection.

Finally, he pulled back, kissing her closed eyelids before letting go completely. "How was the bath…?"

She looked behind her as though she'd forgotten they were even in the bathroom. "Good… great." Turning to meet his eyes again, she gave him a look, "Are you okay?"

"I am now," Leaning in, he brushed his lips over hers, "Sorry. Guess there's years of that kind of thing built up."

That made her smile and she ran her hands down his chest, "I don't mind. But." Backing away, she pointed a finger at him, "I'm getting dressed now, no matter what you say. The day's half over already."

"Fine," He watched her, Stefan's suggestion still circling, unbidden, in his mind. "I didn't get you that vein yet. Got distracted. Are you hungry?"

To his surprise, she opened one of his dresser drawers and pulled out something that very much belonged to her.

"Starving." She slid on the pair of shorts in her hand and pulled out a tank top, closing the drawer before heading over to his bed where she casually fished her bra out from under one of the pillows.

"Hmm." Damon crossed his arms and leaned against the archway that divided the bathroom from the bedroom. Impulsively, he asked, "Wanna try a blood bag?"

She sent him a look as she finished getting dressed. "Really? Hasn't that gone… not that well in the past? It's been a few days since I fed from the vein."

"I know," He moved toward her and absently straightened one of the straps of her tank top, "But you've been drinking fresh blood for a couple of weeks now. Maybe things have evened out." Lifting her chin up, he kissed her, "We could give it a shot."

Sliding her arms around him, she shrugged, "If you think it could work."

He needed it to work. "I'll go grab you one."

"No, it's okay," She stepped back and ran her fingers through her hair, untangling the wet strands, "I'll go down with you."

Damon's mind went directly to Stefan, still brooding alone in the basement. "Or…" He smirked at her, pulling her back to him, "You could stay here and wait for me…"

"Damon," She laughed and let him kiss her briefly before she pulled back, "We can't just hide and make-out in your room all day. We have to deal with stuff sooner or later, right?"

He rolled his eyes and she laid her hand against his chest, batting her eyelashes up at him.

"Right….?"

"Are you… flirting with me?" Damon tilted his head, glancing down at her hand.

"Is that not allowed?"

"Oh, it's allowed…" He slid his hand up her arm, tugging her closer, "I'm just not ure it's ever happened before."

Elena grinned, raising on her toes to steal a kiss, "Well… we've done a lot of stuff lately that we've never done before."

"You _are_ flirting with me…"

"I thought we had established that."

"Yeah, I guess we have," Somehow the reality of being with her hit him all over again. There had always been the physical between them, usually lying dormant, but still always there. And he couldn't remember the time when he wasn't someone she went to for comfort when she was sad or scared or lonely. But this… this was different. This was the kind of thing that normal, everyday couples did. Things she had never allowed before. Casual touches and easy flirtations…

"Damon, are you okay?" Her hand moved to his face and she sought out his gaze, "First you come in here and… kiss me like that. I'm not complaining, but you have to admit, it was pretty intense. And now you're just… staring at me. What's wrong?"

He shook his head, covering her hand with his, "Nothing," Pulling her to him, he held her as close as he could, "Nothing's wrong."

"I love you?"

Easing back, he looked down at her. "Was that a question?"

"Not the sentiment," She smiled and settled her arms loosely around his waist, "I just wasn't sure if that's what I was supposed to say in that moment to fix whatever's wrong that you won't tell me about…"

"Hmm…" He leaned in and kissed her, "_Clever_ girl, aren't you?"

"I have my moments,"

"Well," Damon slid his hand along her jaw, "Nothing's wrong. But I'm a little rusty at the relationship thing. As in… I've never been in one. At least not a real one. Or one that had…mutual flirting and shared dressers. Not that I'm complaining…"

Elena smiled and took his hand in hers, lacing their fingers, "Do you love me?"

"Yes,"

"Do you… like being with me?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her, "What's with the twenty questions?"

"I'm just saying that those are the qualifications to be in a relationship with me. Love me, enjoy being with me… have fun with me. Easy enough?"

"Wow," Damon smirked and stole a kiss before stepping away, "We've been in a relationship for _years_ then."

"Ha ha," Elena nudged him as they walked toward the door, "Hilarious,"

"Thanks, _sweetie_." Damon slung his arm around her shoulders, "Do you prefer honey? Cupcake? Love muffin? What other relationship-y things can I call you?"

"How about nothing that has to do with food for starters." Elena grinned and kissed his cheek, "And I'm not talking about this anymore until I get something eat. Like… now."

Damon nodded and followed her out into the hallway, keeping their conversation light and flirtatious as they walked down the stairs to keep her from reading his tension. But the only thing running through his mind was that he'd never ask for anything again if she could just keep down the blood he was about to give her and prove Stefan's theory wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt.

If she couldn't… well, he didn't want to think about what that might mean for her.

XOXO

**Cliffhanger? Maybe, sorta, kinda?**

**Don't worry – you're not supposed to understand what Damon and Stefan know about Charlotte yet. That'll come later. Just know that Damon's worried…. Dun, dun, dun.**

**Have a lovely Monday, guys! I will post again sometime tomorrow evening. In the meantime, I would simply _adore_ you if you left me a note. **

**I have to spend alllllll day tomorrow writing this horrid paper for a class and your reviews would help break up the monotony. Talk to you soon!** ;-)


	8. Chapter 8

**You guys… are awesome. I got my 100****th**** review today! Thanks to everyone who has left me feedback on this story! Your reviews coming in all day made my paper writing SO much better. **

**_SPOILER_: To clarify the 4x08 spoiler bits for a few of you who have asked – I've just taken information from the 4x08 synopsis. Namely, that Stefan will confront Damon with a concern about Elena that they both have to go investigate in New Orleans where they will look for a woman named Charlotte, one of Damon's old flames. Then, toward the end of the synopsis, it's stated that Damon will have to make a heartbreaking decision. **

**I don't have any idea what that means for the show, though I know many Delena fans are worried that Stefan and Damon will find out that because of blood siring or blood sharing, Elena's feelings for Damon might not be as real as she thought. The heartbreaking decision would then be Damon pushing Elena away because she doesn't love him on her terms. **

**Personally, I don't think that's where the storyline is going. Damon has turned women before (Caroline) and they haven't felt any sort of sire bond to him. That's a hybrid/werewolf thing, from what I can tell. Also, the blood sharing, according to the writers themselves, would "have no physical effects." So that shouldn't have altered Elena's feelings either. So, again, I feel like that's not the right direction. **

**What I'm writing here is an alternative interpretation, which, granted, will probably not end up close to canon. **

**Anyway, I hope that answers some questions for people! **

**Thanks to my amazing beta – Hannah Taylor1. She's such a crucial part of this story process and I'm crazy grateful for her! **

**I'm going to TRY to post tomorrow night and keep up my once-a-day postings. BUT I'm working on my masters degree right now and my thesis is due very soon (Yikes). So I will try to update as much as possible, but if I skip a day – don't worry. There's no way I'm done with this story. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Elena held up the blood bag Damon had just warmed up for her in the microwave and eyed it speculatively. "Do you really think this will work?"

"Maybe. Worst case scenario, we have to clean up a little blood, right? I only gave you a few swallows anyway – we'll work up to a whole feeding a little at a time."

"Okay…" She could feel her veins screaming for the liquid, beginning to bulge under her reddening eyes, and decided she had to go for it before the cravings got any stronger. Tilting the glass up, she took a small taste of the blood, letting it wash over her lips, tongue, and aching gums. "Mmmm…"

Damon moved behind her, resting his hands on her hips as she drank more greedily. Sweeping her hair to the side, he skimmed his mouth along the line of her neck, scraping the sensitive spot behind her ear with his teeth.

The warm appeal of the blood combined with his sensual touch had her leaning back against him, letting him help hold her steady. She managed to finish the entire glass of blood without feeling the sharp tugs of rejection she'd experienced before. Hopeful, she set the glass on the counter and dropped her head back on Damon's shoulder as his arms came around her. He held her protectively against his chest as they waited to see what would happen when the blood hit her system.

Minutes ticked by slowly and still her body seemed calm. Turning in his arms, she smiled up at him.

"Did that just work…?"

Framing her face in his hands, he smirked down at her, "Look at this… my baby vampire's all grown up and drinking responsibly. I might cry."

He pulled her up and kissed her while she steadied herself by holding onto his arms.

"You really feel okay?"

"I do," She couldn't help but smile, "I feel better than okay. I feel… good."

Smiling back at her, he leaned in to kiss her again, only to be interrupted by the sharp sound of Stefan clearing his throat.

"Sorry to interrupt."

Elena kept her eyes on Damon as he looked up at his brother with a tight smile that more closely resembled a grimace.

"Yeah, you seem sorry."

She made a point of running her hands down Damon's arms before she turned to face her ex-boyfriend. The situation was precarious for her. Her affection and caring for Stefan would always be deep and she never wanted to cause him pain, and yet she couldn't bear the thought of causing Damon one more moment of insecurity. He was the one who held her heart.

To make the situation worse, there seemed to be an added layer of tension between the brothers as they stared each other down, both already on edge.

She attempted to diffuse and distract. "Stefan… look, I'm sorry about earlier. Running out on everyone like that. I never even thanked you for looking after Jeremy…"

Stefan merely gave her a nod in acknowledgement, "You drank bagged blood?"

"Yeah…" She glanced back at Damon's stony face, "Why?"

"How long ago?"

"Just now…" Elena looked between the two brothers. "Okay, what's going on that I don't know about?"

Damon rested his hands on her shoulders, only mildly reassuring her since she could feel the tension in his touch, "My baby brother is just jealous. Obviously he's trying to live vicariously through you so that his pitiful rendezvous with Bambi later on will be a _little_ more meaningful."

"Damon," Elena gently chided as she reached up and covered his hand on her shoulder with hers, "Don't…"

"Yeah, Damon." Stefan delivered a mocking smile, "Be nice. We're all friends, right?"

With a derisive snort, Damon shook his head and stepped back, "What do you want, Stefan?"

"I want answers," Stefan moved into the kitchen and leaned against the counter, "Tyler wants an answer from Jeremy today. He's getting antsy."

Oh, reality. There it was. Elena sighed, "How are we supposed to know what the right answer is? How do we decide if Jeremy kills a bunch of hybrids or a bunch of other vampires…" Looking at Damon, she shrugged, "He has to kill either way because we have to have the cure… whether I want it or not."

Nodding, Damon leaned his hands against the counter, "If Klaus is that bent on getting it, we better get it first. We can decide what we want to do with it later."

"Why wouldn't you want the cure?" Stefan moved toward Elena, concern written all over his face, "Elena… this is your chance. You don't have to be… this."

"I'm not saying I definitely don't want it…" Elena wrapped her arms around herself, starting to feel a little wobbly inside. Probably from the intensity of the tension in the room.

Stefan was standing much too close to her now, "You're not meant to be a vampire, Elena. It's not in you. Being this has… changed you."

For some reason, Stefan's face was a little hazy as she looked up at him, not quite sure of her bearings. "I…" She shook her head, "I just…"

"Hey," Damon was behind her instantly, "You okay?"

"Yeah," She lifted her hand to her head, trying to clear the fog, "Just… everything, I guess. Catching up to me. It's nothing."

He laid a steadying hand on her back and let her lean on him.

"Look, someone's gotta say what we all already know, so _I'll_ be the bad guy here," The gentle way he was rubbing her back seemed to contradict his words, "Taking Tyler's little deal is a _horrible_ idea. We want to be on Klaus' side here because not being on Klaus' side means we wind up with pretty little whittled stakes through our hearts."

Elena's stomach rolled.

"And being on Klaus' side means we alienate Tyler and probably Caroline." Stefan interjected,

"So _what_?" Damon sneered, "They're useless to us if we want to find the cure. Klaus knows his stuff, he's got the ability to actually find the cure, and the willingness to kill us all in our sleep if he needs to. Have we forgotten what going head to head with Klaus means?"

Elena started to feel hot.

Stefan shook his head, "No. But there's more than just logic here, Damon. Tyler and Caroline…"

"Will get _over_ it." Damon snapped. "Or they won't. Either way, they're not the enemies we need to worry about. Tell Jeremy the best we can offer is a promise not to kill any hybrid who actually has broken the sire bond. If they're free agents then they're safe."

"Damon…" Elena's voice was weak. Pressing her hand against her forehead, she pushed away, stumbling backward from both brothers. "Why are you both so close to me? I can't… I can't…"

"Elena," Damon followed after her, crouching beside her as she sunk to the ground, "Elena, what's wrong?"

"No…" She tried to warn him, "Stay back…"

"Elena, baby, you're freaking me out. Is it the blood?"

"I don't… I don't think this was a good idea," Elena managed before she lurched forward and threw blood up all over the tiled floor, her shoulders heaving uncontrollably.

"Sshhh…" Damon leaned over her, sweeping her hair out of her face and bracing her as she continued to eject blood from her system, "It's okay. You're okay."

"She's rejecting the blood," Stefan muttered.

"I can see that." Damon snapped, glaring at his brother, "How about something more useful, like getting a towel to clean her up with?"

"Damon…" Elena shuddered and leaned against him, smearing blood across his shirt, "I'm not fixed… I still…"

"Sshh." He kissed her hair and guided her into a more comfortable position, cradling her in his lap as he leaned against the counter, "You're okay. I'm sorry, Elena. I never should have had you try this..."

"Not your fault. You were… trying to help." She groaned, curling against his broad, safe chest as a little normalcy began to return to her body. "I'm so cold…"

His arms tightened around her instantly and he tucked her closer, his head resting on hers.

"I'm getting blood all over you…"

"Oo, blood? Really? Gross…"

Elena smiled against his chest, letting her eyes close. Sighing, she fisted her hand in the fabric of his shirt.

"Damon?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm going to be okay, right? I'll just feed from the vein forever and I'll be fine…?"

There was a long moment of silence and she started to feel nerves unsettling her stomach again. But then Damon pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Hey," He murmured softly, "Just relax. There's nothing you need to worry about."

XOXO

Stefan made quick work of grabbing a couple of towels from an upstairs bathroom, stalling only to call Matt and tell him his vein donation was needed immediately. Once he was sure Matt was on his way over, Stefan made his way back downstairs. His instinct to take care of Elena was still on full speed ahead, even if it was Damon she relied on now.

He stopped short in the doorway of the kitchen, unprepared for the sight in front of him despite his theoretical understanding that Damon and Elena were together. His brother sat on the floor, legs encased in dark denim splayed out in front of him, his back resting against the counter. Cradled in his arms was the Salvatore brothers' personal form of heroin – the one habit neither of them could shake.

Elena looked so trusting and content as she lay against Damon. She had his hand in hers, gently skimming her fingers along his palm. Her face lifted to his and Damon took his hand away from hers long enough to smooth the blood off her chin for her, smiling down into her eyes reassuringly.

As Stefan watched, Damon leaned in and kissed the girl of their dreams. In spite of himself, Stefan expected Elena to push away his older brother, but she didn't. She kissed him back, driving a figurative stake into Stefan's heart.

The stake went deeper when he heard Elena whisper, "I love you," at the end of the kiss. Damon smiled and shifted, allowing Elena to lay her head back against his shoulder.

"I love you, too."

When Elena was settled against him, eyes closed as she started to drift, Damon's wary eyes lifted to Stefan's as though he'd known his brother was there the whole time. Pushing down the emotions rising in him at the sight of the woman he loved being so casually intimate with someone else, Stefan nodded toward the pool of blood still on the tile. He had to make Damon see that they had a problem that might be bigger than any of them anticipated. Elena was on a dangerous path… a path only one other vampire he knew of had ever gone down.

Damon glared back, refusing to yield to what Stefan knew they both already understood. Shrugging his shoulders, Stefan walked into the room and tossed the towels at Damon's feet.

"You know I'm right," Stefan told his brother sadly. "I don't like it either, but I'm right."

Shaking his head, Damon tightened his hold on Elena. "You can't be."

XOXO

Damon sat beside Elena, his arm draped along the couch behind her. She was weak, her hand trembling lightly as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

Because he was allowed now, he leaned toward her and pressed a light kiss to her hair. He could feel Stefan and Matt's eyes on him, but couldn't make himself care. She was scared and hurting and hungry and it was his fault, even if she didn't blame him. He was the one who tried to prove Stefan wrong by making her drink bagged blood and if he could comfort her at all while she dealt with the consequences, he was going to.

Elena leaned into him, turning to give him a small smile.

"You ready?" He nodded toward Matt, "You're going to feel brand new after you drink, I promise."

"What if I take too much?"

He could read the worry in her eyes and knew she was remembering the night he had just barely saved her from killing Matt. The blood and thirst and horror on her face had imprinted in his mind, reminding him all the time why he couldn't let her get out of control.

"You won't," He told her simply, squeezing her shoulder as he nodded for Matt to sit on her other side.

She took a deep breath as she took Matt's wrist in her hand, giving her old flame a small smile. "Thanks, Matt… I'm really sorry about this."

"It's okay," He smiled back at her, "You don't have to wait so long between feedings, Elena. I want to help, you know."

Elena lowered her mouth to Matt's wrist and Damon watched as her eyes closed blissfully. Her throat was working as she swallowed the blood and he could see it leaking out of the corner of her mouth. Memories of her drinking his blood filled his head and for a second he got lost in just watching her and remembering.

She leaned back against him, bringing Matt uncomfortably close to Damon's face. He pushed away the numerous witticisms that jumped to mind and slid his hand over her arm, hugging her near to him so she would know he was still right there with her.

"Elena, slow down,' He whispered in her ear, stroking her cheek lightly. "You can do it,"

Matt was starting to look worried and Damon clenched his jaw, getting nervous himself as he saw Elena get more intense instead of easing back.

"Elena," He tried again, pressing his lips to her ear, "Come on, you can do this…Remember? It's easy…"

The sound of his voice registered that time and she abruptly turned toward him, blood dripping from her lips. Matt pulled his arm back quickly and Damon was only vaguely aware of Stefan coming over to help bandage the football player back up. His attention was on Elena as she leaned into him, absently reaching her hand up to wipe the blood from her lip.

Her mouth connected with his and he instinctively kissed her back, forgetting for the briefest of moments that they weren't alone. Her hand moved to his face and he covered her fingers with his, opening his eyes to see Matt and Stefan both staring in shock.

Gently, he broke the kiss, catching her chin between his thumb and forefinger to stop her when she leaned in for more. Clearing his throat, he leaned his head toward their audience and gave her a small smile.

"Feel better?"

Embarrassment was written all over her pretty, blood-streaked features. "Uh, yeah…completely normal again."

"Good," He took her hand and stood up, pulling her with him as she used her free hand to clean off her mouth and chin. She didn't waver and her grasp on his fingers was strong, "We have to go then."

"We do?"

"Yep," Damon glanced down at Matt, "Sorry to eat and run, but we have places to be." He spared a glance for Stefan, too, taking in his brother's stony expression. "Stef, pleasure as always. Hold down the fort, will ya?"

"Damon…?"

He pulled Elena out of the main room and up the stairs, holding his finger to his lips when she tried to question him further. In his room, he went to his closet and pulled out his jacket and shoes.

"Do you have anything more substantial than that here?" He glanced over his shoulder at her as he pulled on his boots. "We're going to be outside."

She looked down at herself. "No, I just have this… and shoes from yesterday, I guess."

"Here," Walking toward her, he draped his jacket over her bare shoulders, stealing a quick kiss in the process. "We'll stop at your house first so you can change."

"Damon…" She caught his hand as he started to walk toward the door again, "Slow down for a second. What are we doing?"

"There's something I want to show you," He tucked her hair behind her ear and pulled his jacket closer around her. "And… there's something I need to tell you."

"What kind of something…?"

His hands slid up and down her arms, "You'll see. Come with me…?"

"Yeah, of course." She looked up at him, "Are you finally going to tell me what's been bothering you since you went down to get blood earlier?"

He pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her, "You don't miss a thing, do you?"

"Not when it comes to someone I love…"

Smiling, he brought her mouth to his and let himself get lost in the bliss and comfort of kissing her. Her lips parted under his and he took full advantage, sliding his tongue along the sweet curve of her bottom lip before sinking into her mouth. As high as his tension was this morning, he could have dominated control of the kiss, drinking her in and rendering her powerless as he took what he needed from her.

But even if he had wanted to try that, she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Her tongue slid against his, dueling with him for control. She set their pace at just a notch below needy, wrapping her arms around his neck and cupping the back of his head, angling him closer.

His hands slipped under his jacket, finding her small waist and roaming, digging into her back, clutching at her hips. One hand travelled south to grab her backside and press her against him.

When they finally broke apart, Elena took a deep breath and leaned her forehead against his as they both took a second to calm themselves.

"Downstairs…" She finally murmured, "When I kissed you in front of Stefan and Matt…"

Smirking, he tucked her hair behind her ear, "Yeah, sorry… I should have explained earlier that flying under the radar means _not _trying to make out with me in front of Stefan. My bad."

"Very funny," She rolled her eyes at him, "I didn't mean to. I just… the blood and I was feeling good. I could feel it rushing… and I saw you. I just…"

"Acted," He pulled back, kissing her forehead before he stepped away, "No complaints from this end. And it isn't going to kill Stefan. He'll just feel like it might kill him."

"Damon…"

"It's no big deal, Elena." He took her hand and gently tugged her toward the door, "It was bound to happen sooner or later. You just… picked sooner."

"Where are we going?"

"Your house. You need actual clothes for where I want to take you."

"Which is where…?"

"You'll see."

XOXO

**So, we still don't know what condition/issue Charlotte has, but we know Elena can't keep blood down still. And Damon's fixing to take her somewhere and gently break the news to her. In the upcoming chapters there will be some relationship fluff, some angst over the blood issue, and some more development of the Jeremy/hybrid story. **

**Again – you guys are just the best. I love writing for you and hearing from you. I hope you'll review this chapter, too because school is trying to kill me right now and your comments make the days better! **

**Till next time… **


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello lovely readers! :-) Sorry I missed a day. Yesterday was long and when I got home, I fell asleep pretty much right away. **

**The reviews you all have been leaving are still making my days! Thank you to everyone - you guys are the best and make writing this story even more fun than it already is. I'm trying to get back to everyone because I want to thank you each individually, but I figured I'd prioritize writing this chapter first. Right decisions? ;-)**

**Thank to to Hannah Taylor1 for her wonderful beta work. She always makes time to look these chapters over before I post despite her busy schedule, so make sure you go visit her work and tell her how awesome she is. :-)**

**Buckle up guys. This one's a roller coaster. ;-)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOX

Dressed in a more practical pair of fitted jeans and a thin, loose jade sweater, Elena followed Damon, holding tightly to his hand as they navigated a particularly dense portion of the woods that surrounded Mystic Falls.

"Almost there," He glanced back, pausing to guide her around a particularly muddy portion of their not-so-beaten path. "Doing okay?"

"I'm fine, Damon. Curious… but fine."

"Patience," He squeezed her hand as they approached what seemed to be a dropping off point of some sort. Looking around, she wasn't sure where they were supposed to go from there.

"Here," Damon pulled her to him and swept her up, threshold-carrying-style. "Hold tight,"

Without warning, he skidded down the drop-off, cleanly navigating the trees until they landed at the bottom of the topographical dip. Clutching to his shoulder, she looked around, taking in the small clearing and the stream that cut through the trees.

"This is what you wanted to show me?" She looked up at Damon, surprised. He didn't seem like the type of person to have some sort of special hideaway in the forest.

"It's not so much that I wanted to show you the clearing," He set her down carefully and walked over to the tree, pulling a bag out of a hole in the trunk, "But I figured it might be nice to get out of the house-of-Stefan for a while and I found this place once while I was tracking Mason through the woods. Fell down that mini-mountainside the first time and broke my leg."

Turning around, she let her eyes wander over the trees, the blanket of leaves on the ground, the glint of the sun on the water. "It's nice."

"Yeah, it'll do," Damon pulled a blanket out of the bag and spread it on the ground, "Actually, I used to come here a lot. When you would stay over with Stefan and I didn't have the stomach for watching you two play house, I would head out and sleep here." Peering into the bag, he frowned. "Huh, there should be a bottle of bourbon around here somewhere."

She walked over to the blanket and sat down, leaning on her hands and tilting her head back as she drew her knees up. "Well, I like it here. It's very peaceful."

Damon stopped searching for his bourbon and came over to join her on the blanket. She watched him as he sat down, close by but facing her. His hand moved to her leg, resting on her knee before sliding down her thigh. Her eyes stayed locked on his as he inched closer, leaning his torso against her legs.

"Damon…" She sighed and leaned her head back, "Just tell me."

"I have to go out of town for a while."

Her head jerked up. That wasn't at all what she expected to hear. "What?"

"I have to go to New Orleans. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone." He rubbed her leg lightly, caressing her through the denim.

"Okay…" She shook her head, trying to process what he was saying. "Why?"

It was his turn to sigh. "Elena… you have to listen to what I'm about to say. Listen all the way through."

"Damon…"

"There's nothing wrong with you." He reached his free hand out and ran it over her hair. "What I'm about to tell you is some _stupid_ theory Stefan has that now we have to follow up on. But it does _not_ mean anything. Got it?"

She nodded, trying to keep herself from panicking. "Okay."

"Stefan called Katherine."

Elena's eyes widened and she pulled her leg from Damon's grasp as she sat up straight. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he's an idiot." Damon spoke harshly, then softened his tone, "And you're supposed to be listening.

"Sorry."

"He called Katherine because he wanted to figure out if it really was your doppelganger blood that was forcing you to drink only from the vein."

She started to speak, but he tapped her lips with his finger. "Ah-ah. Anyway, Katherine said she can drink bagged blood just fine. But she's a rampant and remorseless liar, so who knows. Maybe she's a vein kind of girl and just doesn't want to be helpful. Stefan believes her though."

"So?"

"So…" He lifted his eyes to hers, "Stefan has a different theory. See, a long time ago, he and I knew this vampire. Her name was Charlotte and she had this… _thing_ about drinking only from the vein. When she and I first met I didn't notice anything off. Most vampires drink straight from the vein."

"But…" Elena urged him on, unable to help herself. Thick dread was coating her insides as she read the worry in Damon's eyes.

"But… one day we hunted together." Damon glanced down. "I'll never forget it. She had this… way of hunting."

"Wait, were you two together? Did you date her?"

He gave a short laugh, "I didn't date her, no. But yeah… we were together-ish. Sometimes."

"So you just slept with her." Elena drew her knees back up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

His eyebrows lifted, "Elena, I've lived for a lot of years, slept with a lot of women…"

She rolled her eyes, "Uh-huh."

Smiling, he pulled her closer against his side, running his hand over her arms. "Are you jealous?"

"No."

"Yes you are." He grinned and tilted her chin up so he could kiss her. "That's _very_ cute."

"Mmm…" Elena let him kiss her one more time, "Damon… could we get to the part I'm supposed to not freak out about?"

"We'd be there already, if you didn't keep interrupting me." He chided, easing back from her. "So, Charlotte. We went hunting together and she… well, she had a slightly different method than I was used to. We were out in this alley and a couple walked by. I grabbed the woman and compelled her. But before I could drink, I saw Charlotte. She was… terrorizing the guy."

"Terrorizing him how…?"

"She went into full vampire mode, fangs out, eyes blood red. Instead of just grabbing him, she had pushed him across the alley and he had fallen down. She was… stalking toward him, practically hissing at him. He was terrified. Kept trying to get up but he'd gotten hurt when he hit the wall."

"Oh my God," Elena shook her head, "Why would she do that?"

"It got worse." Damon said grimly. "I figured she just had a little cruel streak. Liked to play with her food. But when she got close to him, she lunged, grabbing him around the neck and shaking him while he screamed. He tried to fight her. I think she wanted him to because every once in a while she'd let him get the upper hand on her. She'd even let him go, then run after him and grab him again."

Elena closed her eyes against the mental picture, but Damon kept going.

"She bit into his hand and tore it off. Broke his legs so he couldn't run… basically tortured him until he was just this… quivering mass of racing blood and adrenaline. Then she fed on him. Drained him dry."

"What was wrong with her?" Elena asked tightly, "What could make her so awful?"

"I asked her that later," Damon shifted on the blanket, falling silent as he stared out into the trees.

Elena had to prompt him to continue. "Damon…"

"She said she needed it." He turned and met her eyes again. "That when she'd first turned a few hundred years ago, she'd done what every vampire does. She fed on people, sometimes even killed them even though she tried not to. But when medicine advanced and blood was more available, she started trying to get better control of herself. She tried bagged blood."

"And?" Elena waited for the inevitable.

"She couldn't keep it down." Damon told her quietly. "She said it was like her body rejected it."

"Damon…"

"She had banded up with some other vampires and they were all able to drink the bagged blood with no problem, but she couldn't. And after that… things started to get worse for her. It was slow. But her cravings for blood became more intense. Then she couldn't keep down blood that she drank from the wrist. Even that wasn't fresh enough anymore. Feeding from the neck worked for a while longer, but eventually…"

Elena closed her eyes, drawing in on herself, trying to shut out his words. Damon laid a comforting hand on her hair, stroking his fingers through the long strands.

"So she started drinking from the heart itself," He continued, his own voice tight with strain now, "That worked for a long time, but it still wasn't quite enough. She could keep it down but it didn't end the cravings. The only thing that really worked was if her victim's blood was pumping hard, spiked with adrenaline. It would be hotter and fresher then…"

"Stop," Elena pleaded, her voice cracking as she turned away from him, "Oh my God, Damon."

"Elena," He followed after her, pulling her against his chest and wrapping his arms around her, "Hey, shhh. Come here."

She pushed away from him, shaking her head and standing up off the blanket. "No… Damon, I'm a monster. I'm going to be a monster. Don't touch me."

"Elena," His voice was sharp as he stood up too, looming in front of her, "Don't say that. We have no idea if Charlotte has _anything_ to do with you. Okay? You're _fine_. And I'm going to keep you that way."

"How?" Elena felt tears streaming down her face but did nothing to try to stop them, "You can't fix that, Damon. If my body… if I don't work right…" She shook her head, "I'm never going to become that. _Never_. If I do… if I become a monster like that then you have to stake me, Damon. Please."

"Stop it." Damon stalked toward her, his eyes snapping. He grabbed her arms and bent down in her face, shaking her. "Don't pull this martyr crap on me, Elena. You're not going to die and I'm sure as _hell_ not going to stake you."

"I'm not being a martyr!" She pushed away from him, stumbling backward. "I won't be a monster, Damon. I can't be. I would rather die."

"I know that." He moved toward her again, "But listen to me, Elena. We have _no_ idea if this is what's happening to you, okay? There's no reason to believe that Katherine was telling the truth or that Charlotte's problem is the same as yours. There could be a _million _reasons why you can't keep bagged blood down."

His words blunted the sharp edge of her panic just enough to keep it from stabbing her. "Damon…"

"Come here," He took her arms in his hand again, more gently this time, guiding her to him. She burrowed into his chest and let him wrap his strong arms around her. "I've got you," He murmured, pressing light kisses to her hair. "I won't let anything bad happen to you, Elena. Whatever we have to do, we'll do it."

She tilted her head up to look at him, taking in the comforting sight of his face as she slid her arms around his waist.

His hand touched her cheek and he gently wiped away her tears, kissing her forehead. "Do you trust me, Elena?"

"Yes," The word came out as a whisper, but there was conviction behind it. There was no one she trusted more than Damon.

Giving her a small smile, he wrapped her closer to him. "Then you're going to be fine."

She slowly grew calmer as she held onto him, feeling the strength of his chest just behind the soft fabric of his shirt. He felt good… solid. Even his scent was familiar and comforting. Her eyes drifted closed and she focused on taking and releasing each breath.

Slowly, almost as though her brain was avoiding the thought, something occurred to her, stilling her hand as it ran over her back. She pushed back from him, looking up into his face. He gave her a reassuring smile and smoothed her hair back, his thumb lingering on her chin.

"Damon?" She stepped back from him, "When were you going to tell me?"

"What?" Confusion colored his strong features as he started to reach out to her again.

She stopped him with a look. "When? Why not the first time I told you I vomited blood? Why not in the bathroom before I tried drinking from you? Or later at the funeral when I couldn't drink from that blood bag?"

"Elena," He shook his head.

"And this morning?" Elena took another step back, "What was that this morning? Telling me I should try a blood bag again because I might have evened out… was that some sort of experiment you were running?"

His eyes narrowed. "It wasn't like that."

"I can't believe you just...didn't tell me something like this." Hurt and betrayal splashed over the memory of their morning together like a bucket of cold water. "What happened to being honest with each other? You know how much that means to me, Damon. You know how much I hated Stefan lying to me… and you did it, too?"

"Don't bring him into this." Damon's voice was cold, lacking all of the concern and comfort that had emanated from him just minutes ago.

"Why not?" Elena demanded, "How is what you did different? You both just think you get to hide things from me whenever it's convenient and I'm so tired of it… Damon, you should have told me."

She stared at him for a long moment, finally lifting her hands up. "Are you going to say anything?"

"Oh, are you ready to listen to me now?" He shot back, "I wasn't sure if you were done comparing me to my brother yet."

"That's not what this is about, Damon. It's about trust. How am I supposed to ever know for sure that you're not hiding something from me? How can we have a relationship like that?"

His mouth fell open and he let out a disbelieving laugh as he turned around, running his hand over his hair. "Well that was faster than I expected."

"What was?" She asked, watching in shock as he kicked the bag that had held the blanket across the clearing and straight into the creek. "Damon…"

He turned back toward her. "Eighteen hours, Elena. That's a new record for us. Eighteen hours before you realize this isn't what you want."

Reeling, she just stared at him.

He shrugged his shoulders, gesturing toward town. "Go on then. I'm not going to stop you."

She had no idea how the conversation had taken this dramatic turn but she couldn't ignore his reaction, however outlandish it was. "You're not going to stop me…?"

"Nope." His features were hard, his jaw clenched. "Wasn't it just a matter of time anyway? Maybe it's not always Stefan. Maybe that changed. Maybe it didn't. I don't know. But one thing's for sure… it's never me, is it?"

"Damon…" They had somehow ended up on different planes. She'd been having an argument and apparently he was in the middle of a horrible break-up from a severely abbreviated relationship. And she had no idea where to backtrack to in order to fix it.

Silence hung heated and heavy between them and finally he rolled his eyes, sneering at her. "Fine. You stay. _I'll_ go."

Before she could say something to stop him, he was gone. For a moment time seemed to stand still as she looked around, baffled as to how they'd ended up here so quickly. He had just… left. Walked away from her, no questions asked.

Anger filled her, pushing out all other emotions as it blazed. He had promised her he would never leave her again, told her that he loved her, that she could rely on him.

There was no way she was letting him get away with running from her. Not now, not after what they'd survived to finally be happy together.

Speeding into the woods, she darted through the trees, searching for him, listening for him. She made it almost to the edge of the words, doubt and fear creeping in when she still couldn't find him. He was fast. If he'd made it out and was far enough ahead of her, there's no telling where he could get to before she found him.

Leaves rustled suddenly in the background and she whirled, speeding back into the woods, following the sound. She stopped short when she saw him walking at a human pace through the woods, heading directly toward her. Taking in the slump of his shoulders and his defeated gait, she felt her heart soften just a bit.

"Damon," She called to him, stepping out from behind the trees.

He looked up at her, shocked to see her standing there, waiting for him. Their gazes locked and held, letting her see the hurt radiating from him. The air between them was charged with the years of insecurities and tensions that colored all their interactions, and Elena had no idea how to reach out to him now and heal that. She just knew that she still wanted to.

XOXO

**So there's no denying this one - that's a cliffhanger, friends. But I'll be posting again tomorrow so I won't leave you hanging too long! I hope you enjoyed a little bit of angst after all the cute moments. Insecurity is a crucial component to these characters' relationship - as the wonderul WildYennifer put it, "One does not simply be happy and a Delena shipper, ya know." Truer words were never spoken.**

**Episode is coming up tomorrow after for-freaking-ever! I hope you guys all get to watch and I hope all are anticipations are realized. It's Delena time, people!**

**Now's where I ask you ever so nicely to take a second and leave me a note. :-) I love hearing your thoughts, always. **


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you all got to watch tonight's episode. I'll refrain from commenting here in case there are people who haven't seen it, but if you want to talk about it, PM me. I can talk about this subject for HOURS… ;-)**

**I want to say a special thank you to everyone who reviewed this last chapter. Especially GIZLI! Your review came in during a horrible day and was so lovely – it honestly made my day. And to the rest of you as well – thank you for your comments. It means a lot. **

**Thank to you my brilliant beta, Hannah Taylor1. She's the greatest beta and friend ever. **

**I hope you all enjoy this one – I'm a little nervous about it!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Damon stood still, his breath coming quick as he looked at the woman he loved more than anything standing in front of him. Doubt and anger seethed inside of him, urging him to run, to protect his heart from her this time. But old habits die hard and all he could do was all he ever did – run headlong toward her.

He closed the distance between them in less than a second and took her face in his hands, his eyes raking over her before he crushed his mouth onto hers. She gasped against him, her hands moving to lock around his wrists. For a second he thought she would push him away, but she dragged him closer, wrapping her arms around his neck and hoisting herself up as she kissed him hard.

He grabbed her legs, helping her wrap them around his waist as he stumbled forward to press her against the nearest tree. She arched against him, her hips grinding on his as he moved down to kiss her neck, his teeth scraping over her flesh. One of his hands held the back of her head, protecting her from the rough bark of the tree and the other cupped her backside, setting a rhythm to her hip wriggling that nearly sent him over the edge.

His tongue thrust into her mouth and she let out a sob into the kiss, clutching his hair and futilely struggling to push his jacket off his shoulders. Agreeing with her sentiment, he set her down and dragged her sweater off over her head, tossing it aside before sliding off his jacket and beginning to work on the buttons of his shirt.

Their eyes were locked as she reached behind her, undid her bra, let it fall, and reached out for the button of his pants. The look in her eyes as she flipped it open set his blood on fire and he tossed aside his shirt before pinning her back against the tree, groaning in her ear as she slid his zipper down and tugged at the waistband of his jeans. When the heavy denim fell to the ground, he stepped away long enough to pull off his boots and kick his pants off before he pressed against her again. His hands roamed over her bare skin, sliding along the dip of her waist before moving to cup her perfect breasts, kneading them in his palms.

Elena ran her nails down his back, clutching at his shoulders. She slid one hand between them, scraping her fingers against his abdomen, then wandering lower, running her hand over his length. Biting back his moan, he pushed her harder against the tree, letting one hand drop to the button on her jeans. He teased her, making her hooded eyes fly open with his touch. Her lips parted and he kissed her, nipping at her bottom lip before he jerked her pants open, pulling the zipper down with one hand while the other was already pushing the waistband down her hips. Her underwear disappeared next, flung in scraps over his shoulder as he ground his hips into hers.

Small hands pushed at his underwear and then he was inside her. Closing his eyes and pressing his forehead to hers, he set their pace at superhuman, reaching down and lifting her legs back around his waist She clung to his shoulders and threw her head back, giving him perfect access to her neck with all its olive-toned, smooth skin and her veins underneath.

He could feel her nearing the point of no return and he leaned in, licking a path up her neck before finding that sweet spot he'd fantasized about so many times. He nipped at her and she let out a throaty moan, arching her neck to urge him on. Not needing to be told twice, he let his fangs descend and bit her neck, his eyes rolling back in his head as he heard her pleasured sighs and tasted the smooth, rich blood in her veins. Latching his mouth around his prize, he suckled at her, coaxing her blood out and laving it up with his tongue. More than anything else, the taste of her made him feel like they were one, like he could crawl inside of her, consume her, know her inside and out.

She trembled against him and he held her close, quickly following her over the edge. His strength faltered as he tried to keep them standing through it all. When she went limp against him, he eased them away from the tree, dropping light kisses over her hair and face and shoulder as he somehow managed to lower them both to the ground.

They were as intimate now as two people could be, sprawled naked on the ground, limbs tangled, breath still coming fast from their mutual pleasure. Yet as soon as their bodies began to cool and their lungs regained a steady rhythm, the unaddressed stress between them blanketed the moment with uneasy tension.

Because he didn't know what else to do, he reached back into his comfort zone and pulled out something flippant.

"I thought you said you didn't know how to have hot vampire sex."

She sat up, hugging her knees to her chest, the long expanse of her back, dotted by the vertebrae of her delicate spine, exposed to his eyes. Everything in him wanted to reach out his hand and trail that line, but even he knew they weren't there yet. Frustrated, angry sex was one thing. Gentle caresses were another.

"Do you really think we have an expiration date?" She laid her head sideways on her arms, not looking at him, but not completely turned away from him."Are you just waiting for me to walk away from you?"

His throat closed and he stared up at the sky, trying to find the right words. Somehow, he couldn't tell her no, and he hated to tell her yes.

"That's what you're doing, isn't it?" She lowered her legs and turned to face him, sadness etched into her beautiful face. "You think I'll change my mind about you… about loving you."

With a sigh, he sat up too, brushing the leaves from his hair. "It's complicated, Elena."

"It really isn't," She argued, "Damon, what we just had was a fight, not a break-up. It wasn't even a real fight. It was both of us letting our emotions get the best of us and saying things we don't mean and overreacting to every little thing. Do you really think I would be done with you so easily?"

Clenching his jaw, he forced himself to hold her gaze. "After all our starts and stops, emphasis on the _stops_ – yeah. Part of me does."

She just watched him, her eyes full of questions.

"That's what we _do_, Elena. We have… moments." He reached behind him and grabbed his jacket off the ground, draping it around her shivering frame. "And every time we have one of our moments, I think it's real. That kiss on your porch. You kissed me back. We had a moment. And then it was gone."

"Damon..."

"That night at the motel," Standing up, he found his jeans and pulled them over his legs. "I figured you couldn't kiss me like that if you didn't feel something. My mistake."

"Of course I felt something."

Picking his shirt up, he slung it on. "Did you? Is that why you left me to die alone in a warehouse while you ran back to Stefan again? I'm just saying, Elena. Starts and stops. Of course I'm waiting for the next stop. I'm… waiting for the moment to end."

He tossed her jeans toward her, not meeting her eyes. "You ready?"

Slowly, she stood and pulled them on. The curtain of her hair hid her face from him, but he could sense, even smell the tears rolling down her cheeks. When she'd fastened her jeans, she paused for a second, hesitating before she crossed to him. Her eyes never lifted to his as she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry I broke your trust in me, Damon. I never meant to." She leaned up to kiss his cheek before stepping away from him. Her tears were on his skin as she turned and collected the rest of her clothes before slowly beginning the trek back toward town.

Watching her walk away tore at him and before he knew it, he was standing in front of her, giving her another chance to not leave him this time. She'd come after him when he'd walked away. Now it was his turn.

"Is this a bump in the road, Elena?"

"What do you mean?"

They both knew she knew _exactly_ what he meant."Is this. A bump?"

She sighed and looked down, "I'm trying to give you what you want, Damon. I'm trying to make this easier for you."

"No. You're trying to make it easier for yourself." There was too much at stake to go easy on her now. "We just hit a bump at full speed, Elena. But this time you're driving the sabotage-mobile, _not _me."

"I don't know what you want from me, Damon." Elena met his eyes, looking small and lost. She gestured aimlessly with one hand. "Do you want to me to go or stay because I honestly can't tell."

Taking a step toward her, he laid it all out on the line. "I want you to _want _to stay."

"That's the thing, Damon." She wrapped her arms around herself, lifting one slim shoulder. "I never wanted to leave."

"Then why did you?" He demanded, taking another step toward her, "As many times as my brother told you to run for the hills, you always fought for him. Is there a specific number of chances I get before you give up on us? On me? Because I'm _pretty_ sure Stefan's forgiveness punch card didn't have an expiration date."

"And you think yours does?" She gaped at him, a short, humorless laugh escaping her as she took a step closer to him, "Damon, I have forgiven you of more than everyone else I know combined. And more easily. When you've been at your darkest, I've reached out to you. I've defended you, stayed with you… does that count for nothing?"

It did. Sometimes it was all that got him through. But he was still scared. Not just scared, but terrified that if he let her really see him and be with him, if he didn't keep that wall up, that next time, when she left, it would destroy him. So he told her his deepest fear and hoped with every fiber of his being that she would know the right thing to say.

"Maybe you just reached out to the imaginary Damon that lives in your head." He moved a little closer to her, "The one you can tie up with ribbons and pearls and prettify for high society tea. Just admit it, Elena." He looked down at the ground for a long moment before meeting her eyes again. He shrugged, "I don't check any of the right boxes in your future fantasies. Whenever it comes down to accepting me dark side and all, you run screaming the other way, usually right back to Stefan."

Elena tilted her head, her eyes roaming over his face. Consciously or unconsciously, she took another step toward him. "You're not wrong," She said softly, "For a really long time, you didn't check the right boxes for what I wanted. The thing is… " A small, tentative smile touched her lips, "The boxes changed, Damon. There's just the one box now and you're the only one who checks it. Don't think that when I came to you yesterday it was because I had somehow forgotten the worst parts of you. I hadn't. I came because I love you, Damon. All of you. And I _want_ to stay."

Her words washed over his pitted heart, eroding the darkest edges and filling the deepest gaps. Throat tight, he took the last step toward her, his voice catching as he spoke. "Then stay."

Instantly, the tension drained from her body and she nodded into his chest as she melted against him, the tears welling in her eyes staining his shirt. Her arms wrapped around his waist and, had he been less resilient, the force of her hold would have crushed him. Instead, he just wanted her closer. Locking his arms around her body, he held her against him, burying his face in her long hair so he could breathe her in.

She was still his. Somehow amidst all that chaos someone had said something right and she was still here, in his arms. Their moment hadn't ended.

"I'm sorry," Elena nudged her nose against his neck, finding his skin with her lips. "I love you, Damon. I don't want us to push each other away."

His eyes closed and he tightened his grip on her. "I'll chase you if you chase me."

Her lips curved against his skin. "Deal."

"I love you, too." He tilted her chin up, bending down to kiss her lips. For several blissful moments he just let himself enjoy her, let them both reassure each other. "Elena," He broke away regretfully, "the whole Charlotte blood thing ... I didn't tell you because I didn't _know_. The idea never even occurred to me before Stefan threw it in my face this morning in a fit of jealous ex-vampire-boyfriend pique." He brushed her hair back, letting his thumb drift along the curve of her cheek, "For the record, I think he's wrong."

She stretched her arms around his neck, her fingers running through the back of his hair, "I guess I should have figured that out. You would never keep something like that from me…"

"No secrets."

"But…" She cast him a hesitant look, as though she was worried her next words would put them at odds again, "This morning, when you had me try the blood bag. You knew then…"

Her unspoken question was the same one he'd been asking himself ever since he held her on the kitchen floor while she vomited up blood. Why would he do that her? "Yeah…" He ran his hands down her arms, gently easing back from her, "I guess the blood bag was me choosing to ignore Stefan. Maybe I was in denial and hoping to prove him wrong. You'd been handling blood better… I thought maybe..." He shook his head, "It was a stupid thing to do."

"It doesn't matter now," She smiled and straightened the collar of his shirt, smoothing down the fabric. "I only lashed out at you about it because…" Her words trailed off and she took a shaky breath.

"Because you're scared." He murmured, drawing her back to him. "You're going to be fine, Elena. Even if we have to deal with this, we'll get through it. We always survive, remember?"

"Someday survival will be a little easier, right?"

"With you around…?" He teased her, letting her step back from his embrace, "That'll be the day."

Her smile was back and she playfully nudged at him. "Here," She slipped his jacket off and handed it to him. "I'd better get dressed if we're going to head back."

His eyes feasted on her skin glinting in the sunlight. "I liked you better in nothing by my jacket…"

"I bet you did." She fastened her bra around her waist and pulled the shoulder straps up into place. "I think we did this backward. Aren't we supposed to have make-up sex after the fight is over?"

"Oh, that wasn't make-up sex." He put his jacket on as she struggled to turn her sweater right-side-out. "That was hot, angry, desperate sex. Against a tree," He slid his arms around her bare waist while he still could. "You naughty girl."

Flushing, she pushed at his hands, "Damon…we have to get back,"

"Says who?" He swept her up in his arms and kissed her, making her drop her sweater on the ground again, "Who's looking for us?"

"We have things to do…" She let her head fall back as he kissed her neck, "Damon…"

"I can't get enough of you," He whispered against her skin, letting his hands slide over her hips. "Whatever it is we have to do can wait."

"But I have to pack," She protested, sighing as he kissed down her chest, letting his tongue trace the lines of her bra.

He was having a hard time concentrating on what she was saying, more than ready for another bout of forest sex. "Pack for what, baby?"

Her hands rested in his hair, cradling his head against her breasts, "I'm going to New Orleans with you."

That made his head jerk up quick enough. "What?"

"I want to go with you."

He stepped back from her, cocking an eyebrow. "To New Orleans."

"I know you don't like the idea," She held up a hand, warding off the torrent of words he was about to let loose, "But don't just say no right away."

"Fine," He smirked at her. "No freaking way."

"Damon…"

"I mean it, Elena." Damon shook his head. "It's way too dangerous."

"I want to be a part of this, Damon." Elena insisted, crossing her arms over her chest. "After all, this is my life we're talking about"

"My point exactly." He crossed his own arms, refusing to waver no matter how cute she looked when she was defying him. "Charlotte and life go together _about_ as well as Stefan and people blood. Bad combination. I can take her if I need to. _You,_ on the other hand, wouldn't survive a minute in the same room. Think… Stefan the Ripper on steroids, minus the Justin Bieber face."

Elena wasn't ready to give up, or take the bait on any of his jokes. When she was determined, she was determined. "So I'll stay away from her until you clear it. But if she's safe then I'll be right there in town to talk to her myself. That's fair, Damon."

He rolled his eyes, "Not happening."

"Why are you being such a caveman about this?"

"Because," He held up a finger, "For one thing, I love you. Therefore, by default, I worry about you. And if I'm distracted with being worried about you while I'm there then I don't find out what I need to find out." He held up another finger, "Number two – I love you. So by default, when you're around, I only think about doing things like this."

Reaching out for her arm, he yanked her against him, kissing her with the full intention of making her toes curl. He must have done something right because despite her determination to win this argument, she wrapped around him, her tongue sliding over his as she fully committed to this kiss.

Smirking against her mouth, he drew her bottom lip between his teeth and nipped lightly before pulling away.

"See?" He skimmed his lips along her jaw, "Distraction."

"Nice try, Damon. But I'm coming."

He sighed and cupped her face in his hands, "Picture this. Me in the front, driving-because, no way are either one of you grandmas getting behind the wheel. You in the passenger seat, and hero hair in the backseat, being broody." He sighed dramatically and dropped his hands from her, "Can't you just hear the 'Are we there yets' and '_Damon_, you stole my girlfriends.' Of course, we could always have fun playing the usual games ... I spy with my little eye, a Bambi vampire about to cry." He gave her a pointed look, "Yeah, no. You're not coming. I did middle school already."

"Damon," She reached down and picked up her sweater, this time managing to actually get it on, "Are you telling me you need quality time with your brother without me around?"

"That too." He leaned in and kissed her forehead, thankful that she understood the things he didn't quite know how to say. "So… you'll stay here?"

She pressed her lips together, clearly struggling with relinquishing control her. He couldn't say he blamed her. If it was him, he'd want to be on the ground floor of this, too.

"Fine." The word finally escaped the confines of her tight lips, "I'll stay. If you promise that when you get Charlotte cornered and you're talking to her… you'll call me so I can listen in."

"Fair enough," He agreed immediately. "I'll call you so often you'll get sick of me."

A hint of a smile touched her lips. "You better."

Holding his hand out for hers, he nodded in the general direction of home. "So what do you say we go spend our last night together for a while somewhere that's not these woods?"

"That sounds like a great idea," She linked their fingers and leaned against him as they walked. "It seems impossible that this morning we woke up on that couch together. What a long, _long_ day…"

"Here's to an evening of no more surprises, then."

"And no more fights…"

Slinging his arm around her shoulders, he kissed her temple, "And no more problems…"

XOXO

"**No more problems." Damon, you're so cute when you're naïve. ;-) **

**So I really hope you guys like this. Like I said, it was a really important chapter to me so I was a little nervous about posting. I'd honestly love your feedback. **

**Also, I have a very strong plot in my head for this fic, but I want to make sure you guys want more before I decide to keep posting. Is anyone interested in seeing the resolutions to these issues over, say, another 10-15 chapters? Or would you prefer a clean wrap-up now that they've worked out some of their bigger issues?**

**You guys are the best readers ever! Happy Delena!**

**(Ten chapters in one week – record for me!)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy Saturday! Sorry I missed yesterday's post - I tried to get it done in time, but just couldn't quite make it. This post is dedicated to TROGDOR19 - I hope it helps your 4x07 blues. :-) **

**I had a record number of reviews for the last chapter which means you guys are even more amazing than usual. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. It means so much. And thank you to everyone who sent me a PM about the episode. I loved having people to gab about the show with. I have a couple more of you to respond to and I'm going to go do that right now. **

**So everyone voted for more chapters and an extended plot (Aww, thanks, guys), so this chapter sets up where the plot is going for here. There's not as much one-on-one Delena stuff, though I did add in a few scenes of that for you. Mainly, it's all our favorite characters chatting about the deathly dangerous problems in their lives. I hope you enjoy it! :-)**

**Oh, and I'm a horrible person because I forgot to credit my beta on the last chapter. Hannah Taylor1 (who just posted a new chapter of her own - check it out!), helped me out with some of Damon's dialogue in the last chapter and really helped shape the piece. She's got Damon's voice down like nobody's business. So make sure you thank her by going and reviewing her stuff, too. :-)**

**Anybody read Julie Plec's latest interview? It'll really help you understand the last episode, so check it out :-)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

"Admit it, Elena," Damon's hip bumped hers as they walked up his driveway. They'd walked back from the woods leisurely, arms around each other, hands resting comfortably in each others' back pockets. Now that they were together, she couldn't understand how she'd ever been able to refrain from touching him, being with him like this. It was so natural.

"Come on…" He teased her, "You know I'm right."

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe."

"Maybe…?"

"Okay, fine," She gave an exasperated sigh. "I was… attracted to you that first night. You were handsome and very mysterious. I was intrigued."

Smirking, he curled his fingers in her back pocket, sending sparks of lust through her. "Told ya. The way you looked at me with that little smile… you practically _begged_ me to suggest that I was what you wanted…"

"Begged is a strong word." She stopped them as they neared the boardinghouse door and slid her other arm around his waist, looking up at him. Pointedly, she let her gaze fall to his lips. "At the most it was a light flirtation."

He smiled and kissed her, one of his hands traversing the planes of her face and neck.

"Damon?" She murmured his name against his lips, "If my parents hadn't come when they did, how would you have answered my question? What did you want then?"

"I don't know…" He moved his lips along her jaw, sliding his hand under the fabric of her shirt. "I'd only wanted one thing for a century and half, but when I saw you, I forgot about anything else."

Her eyes closed and she sighed with absolute contentment, running her hand through his hair. "I wish you'd let me remember. Maybe we could have been this happy a long time ago…"

"Trust me. Lesson learned," He nipped at her earlobe, "Next time I happen upon the love of my existence in the middle of the night on a dark, winding road, I'll sweep her away with me right then and there."

She laughed as he brought his mouth back to hers, linking her arms around his neck. "Mm… with everything happening right now, how it possible to be this happy?"

Someone cleared their throat in the background. "Those of us with sensitive hearing were wondering if you two might be done soon."

Damon's eyes opened and locked on hers before he stepped back and turned to glance at his brother standing in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest.

"Ah," Damon cocked his head, listening. "We have company. What's the occasion, _brother_?"

"You should both come inside."

Stefan disappeared from the doorway and Elena let out the breath she'd been holding. "Well… that was awkward."

"Plenty of that to go around today." Damon gestured toward the doorway. "Shall we figure out why the masses have gathered, and – more importantly – if they've been drinking my bourbon?"

"How would they find it?" She teased him, looking over her shoulder as she walked inside, "You hide it in your underwear drawer, remember?"

He chuckled and smacked her backside, "That's not all I hide in there. I'll show you later."

The grin on his lips went all the way to his eyes as he pulled her into the main room, leaving her just a little breathless as she faced all of her friends.

The supernatural class of 2013 was all present and accounted for. Tyler and Caroline sat on the couch together, close but with an awkward distance between them. Stefan stood at the fireplace with Matt and Jeremy nearby. Even Bonnie was perched on the arm of the couch opposite Caroline and Matt.

Elena glanced around as all of her friends and living relatives stared at her, a bad feeling creeping in. "What happened? Jer? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Jeremy crossed his arms over his chest, "Where have you been all day? It's like you never answer your phone anymore."

"I'll second that," Caroline noted, "I called you like four times."

"I'm sorry…" Elena glanced at Damon, "I left it at home, I guess."

"Mine's upstairs." Damon supplied, heading over to pour himself a drink. Elena watched as he poured two and moved back toward her, handing her one as he held her gaze. She nodded her thanks and sat down on the couch, near Bonnie.

"Okay, what is it?" Elena demanded, "You're all here for a reason, right?"

"First things first," Bonnie held up a hand, looking between Damon and Elena, "What is going on with you two?"

Elena swallowed hard and looked at Damon, answering the question in his eyes with a subtle shrug, hoping he would understand that she wanted him to take this one.

With his usual tact, Damon smirked and moved to sit beside Elena, throwing his arm over the back of the couch. "_Maybe_ that's none of your business." He cocked an eyebrow at Bonnie, "Or maybe I'll spill the beans if you tell me what's going on with you and Professor Hogwarts."

"Okay, you know we could hear you out there, right?" Caroline sat back against the couch, drumming her fingers on its arm. "Elena?"

Rubbing her arm awkwardly, Elena glanced at Stefan and saw him staring pointedly into the fire. Figuring there was no use hedging around the issue, she nodded. "Damon and I are together. We're… dating?" She looked at Damon, nearly laughing at how inadequate that word was.

He smiled and slid his hand down rest on her shoulder, his blue eyes piercing into hers.

"Elena…"

Bonnie's voice made Elena tense up. "Don't, Bonnie." Elena turned to her friend, shaking her head. "I don't want to hear it, okay?"

Bonnie shook her head, reaching forward and tugging at something in Elena's hair. "No, you just… have a leaf."

"Oh," Elena flushed as Bonnie held up a half-crumpled leaf. "Uh, thanks."

"Sorry, can we talk about why we're really here instead of which Salvatore Elena's batting her eyes at this week?" Tyler groused, shifting anxiously on the couch. "Some of us have important things on our minds."

"Hey," Damon spoke sharply, "Back off wolf boy. Something tells me it's your fault we're holding a business meeting of the undead in the first place. If you're so anxious, why don't you get to it?"

"I'll do that,"

Stefan stepped forward. Elena couldn't help but notice that his eyes were several shades darker than normal. She glanced at Damon and the look on his face suggested he'd noticed too.

"Jeremy and I accepted Tyler's deal. Jeremy won't kill any more hybrids and we'll help keep Klaus distracted by searching for the cure. Once we've gotten the cure and all the hybrids are free, we can work together to take Klaus out of the picture for good."

Elena felt Damon tense beside her and laid a hand on his leg, attempting to soothe him.

It made little difference.

"Have you lost your squirrel-addled mind?" Damon shot to his feet, anger steaming out of him, "Do you not remember a little conversation you and I had earlier today where I _specifically_ said 'don't take the deal, Stefan. It's a stupid deal, Stefan.' So what the hell, _Stefan_?"

"It was the right choice." Stefan advanced on his brother, "We get the cure, we help Klaus' victims, we take Klaus out of the picture, and we're loyal to our friends. I know you don't get loyalty, but it's important to some of us."

"Why don't we talk about one issue at a time?" Damon's tone was laced with venom, "Taking Klaus out isn't something we can just get together and do one Saturday. Do you not remember how many times we tried to kill that guy? He comes back, _every_ time. How often do we get to try to kill him before he decides to take us all out?" Damon leaned far into Stefan's personal space, speaking in low, dark voice. "Do you want to spend the rest of existence on the run, because I _don't_."

Stefan narrowed his eyes, "He deserves to die. And since when are you so eager to work with him? You never want to work with him."

"That doesn't mean I think we should make some half-assed deal with a bunch of hybrids to try to pull one over on him and then kill him. There are ways to _stall _Klaus and put him off without giving him a good reason to kill us."

"Stefan," Elena stood up cautiously, moving to stand by Damon. She laid a hand on his back and rubbed lightly. "Maybe Damon's right. You know? Getting on Klaus' bad side…"

"So you want Jeremy to kill all those people that could be free of him if we give them time?" Stefan demanded, rounding on her. "Is that what you want, Elena?"

"No, it's not what I want." She could feel emotion rising in her, "I don't want my brother killing anyone. The idea makes me nauseous."

"That ship has sailed, Elena." Jeremy stepped forward, "I'm changing. I'm not your… kid brother anymore." Aggression filled his young features, "I want to kill vampires all the time. Right now, I want to kill vampires."

"Jeremy…" Elena shook her head, hardly believing the person that stood in front of her. "Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true?"

"He's been having dreams, Elena." Matt spoke quietly, "He dreamt about killing you."

Damon's hand immediately reached for hers, his fingers pressing into her palm. "That's not ever going to happen."

"Jeremy…" Elena heard her voice crack as she looked at her brother, "I never want to hurt you. I'm still me. I'm still your sister."

Jeremy stared at the ground, "I don't want to hurt you either, Elena. But I can't help that I'm changing anymore than you can help that you're changing. This is where we are now."

Feeling tears spring to her eyes, Elena dipped her head, letting her hair shield her face. Damon pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arm around her and letting her hide her face in his shoulder.

"Good work, Stef. Real productive." Damon muttered, guiding Elena back to the couch and sitting down with her.

"Okay," Caroline stood up, moving to the center of the room. "Enough, all of you. Jeremy, go stand by Matt again. Stefan, just back off for a second."

Elena dried her tears and looked up at her friend, taking a calming breath as Damon's hand lightly rubbed her shoulder.

"We all care about each other," Caroline continued, "We fight and we have different agendas and more problems than the average group of friends, but when it comes down to it, we all matter to each other. So let's just back up for a second. This whole problem is because there's supposedly some kind of vampire cure, right? And Stefan wants the cure for Elena. If we didn't need the cure, then Jeremy wouldn't need to kill anyone and Tyler wouldn't have to worry about his friends, and we could just go back to our normal problems. Right?"

The room was silent and Caroline let out a frustrated sigh. "Right. So… let's figure out this cure thing. Elena," The blonde vampire turned toward Elena, determination in her eyes. "If there was a vampire cure and we had it, would you _want_ to take it?"

Elena could feel every person in the room hanging on for her answer, but at the moment she didn't care about that. Standing up, she crossed to Caroline and hugged her friend.

"Thank you." She whispered, tears coming again.

"Oh, honey." Caroline hugged Elena back, "Hey, don't cry."

Elena was about to pull back when she felt a hand on her back. Turning her head, she saw Bonnie standing beside her and gave her oldest friend a shaky smile as she drew her into a group hug. Not caring that there were several highly uncomfortable boys in the room, the three girls hugged, each shedding a few tears before pulling back.

"Okay," Elena wiped her eyes, "Sorry. I just decided a couple of really important things." She walked back to Damon and sat down. "Caroline's right. You guys are what's most important to me. We've all lost a lot of people over the last two years and I don't want to do anything that's going to mean losing another person I care about." She looked pointedly at Jeremy, "I won't lose you, Jer."

"Elena," Stefan started to speak, but Elena held up a hand.

"I'm not done." She looked around the room. "There might be something… wrong with me. I don't want to go into all the details, but I might have something in me that makes me dangerous as a vampire."

"Dangerous how?" Tyler leaned forward.

"She said she didn't want to get into it." Damon sent the werewolf a glare.

"Just… dangerous." Elena laid a hand on Damon's leg, running her fingers along his knee. "I'll know more about it soon. But, I know now that the only reason I'd want the cure is if that dangerous part of me took over. Otherwise, I won't take it."

Damon's hand slid to hers and she met his eyes, letting everything that meant to both of them flow through their locked gaze.

"Elena, you're not thinking clearly." Stefan stepped forward for the first time since Caroline had shut him down. "You can become who you used to me. You can be that person again."

"No, I can't Stefan." Elena turned her hand over, lacing her fingers with Damon's. "I can't just reset the clock and act like the last months haven't happened. This is who I am now and no cure is going to change that. Becoming human again wouldn't change all the things I've done and thought and felt. Even if it could, I wouldn't want it to. Not anymore."

"Because you're in love with _him_?" Stefan spat the question, "Elena, don't be so stupid. You can't make a decision like this based on a… day of being with him. He's never going to change, not even if you gave him forever. He can't be what you want him to be."

Elena could feel the tension in Damon's body, but it was nothing compared to the anger that suddenly filled hers. "I hope he never does change." She stood up, advancing on her ex-boyfriend. "He's not a charity case, Stefan. He's a good man and the fact that he doesn't hide his mistakes and try to pretend he's something he's not doesn't make him less than you. If anything, it makes him stronger."

"Elena," Stefan grabbed her arm.

She didn't give him a chance to speak. It would have been easy to just pull her arm away, but she acted out, pushing him backward hard so that he nearly fell over the coffee table.

"Don't touch me, Stefan." She glared, "It's bad enough that you think I'm this thing that you have to fix now. Don't make it worse by insulting Damon, too."

Stefan stared at her as though he hardly recognized her, but didn't say another word.

"So here's what we're going to do." Elena took a calming breath and looked around the room, "Jeremy, you're going to be okay. You're not going to have to kill any more vampires. I won't watch you lose your humanity in case I need to get mine back." She turned to Tyler, "That means there is no hybrid problem. Your friends are safe."

"And the cure?" Matt shrugged, "How do we get it if Jeremy doesn't uncover the map?"

"We find another hunter." Damon stood up and moved toward Elena, taking her hand in his. "It'll take a while, but we'll find another one. We have time before we need the cure now," He looked down at her as he pressed her hand with his, "If we need it at all."

"What about Klaus?" Bonnie asked, "He's not going to want to wait any longer to find the cure than he has to."

"Like I said before," Damon muttered, "We stall."

"I'll handle that." Caroline looked at Tyler. "If you guys can keep him thinking that you're still on board for finding the cure on his terms, then Tyler and I will handle him behind the scenes."

Tyler nodded, "We can create some hybrid distractions for a while."

"I can take Jeremy out of the running for hunter." Bonnie stepped forward. "Professor Shane has been… helping me with my magic. If he and I work together I should be able to put a spell on Jeremy that binds him from killing. It's a tough spell, but I think we can do it."

"Really?" Elena turned to her friend, "Won't Klaus come after you if he figures it out?"

"Klaus and I have an understanding," Bonnie said grimly, "And if he does come after me, I can tell him I still can't use my magic. It'll work for a while."

"Bonnie, thank you." Elena smiled at her friend before looking around the whole room. "We're all going to be okay. We'll get through this. All of us." She looked at Jeremy, hoping with everything in her that he wasn't going to fight these new decisions.

Slowly, he nodded at her and she gave him a small smile.

Looking up at Damon, she decided to go for broke. "Damon and I have to leave town tomorrow to get some answers about what might make me dangerous. We'll be in New Orleans for a few days, right?"

He smirked down at her and cocked an eyebrow. But he didn't challenge her. "Right."

"While we're gone, Matt and Jeremy and Stefan can start figuring out how to find another hunter."

Matt nodded, "We'll see what we can find."

Silence fell over the room, growing slightly awkward until Damon cleared his throat. "Okay then. Meeting adjourned. Everybody go to your own house or at least get out of mine."

XOXO

An hour later, when the last person had finally left, Damon stood in the archway between his bedroom and bathroom, watching as Elena stood at the sink and brushed her hair out, running her hands over the long, silky strands. She looked up and their eyes connected in the mirror. Slowly, she set down the brush and turned to him.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Not even a little bit." He pushed away from the wall and walked toward her, "Should I be?"

"Well… I didn't exactly discuss all that with you before I made decisions for everyone. And, I roped you into taking me to New Orleans without Stefan…"

"Mmhmm." He slid his arms around her waist, appreciating the light fabric of her tank top against her slender form. "Elena, you were _amazing_ down there."

The smile that broke out over her face warmed his still heart. "Really…?"

"All that confidence I've always known you have, it was all over you tonight. You knew what you wanted and you went for it, and…" He couldn't resist teasing her just a bit, "Not once did you offer to give yourself over to Klaus to keep him from forcing Jeremy to kill hybrids."

She laughed and ran her hands over his bare chest, "Well… if I'm more confident, its your fault."

"Oh yeah?"

Her lithe body stretched against him until her lips met his. "I feel stronger when I'm with you. Like I can do anything."

"Elena," If only she knew how much it affected him when she said things like that. He stroked her face, drowning in her gaze, drinking her in, "How is this real? Even in my wildest dreams I didn't imagine it would be like this between us."

"Maybe this is just what being in love feels like and we never got it right before."

He smiled and slid his hand around the back of her neck, letting his fingers graze her skin."Did you mean what you said down there? About not wanting me to change?"

She nodded, her warm, brown eyes locked on his. "I meant all of it, Damon." Her gaze hardened, "And after the way he acted in front of everyone, there was no way I was going to let you go off alone with him."

"Something tells me you'll be a much better travelling partner," He leaned in and kissed her, "Even though you and I are going to have a long talk tomorrow about some very strict rules you have to follow to stay safe. And you," He took her by surprise, sweeping her up in his arms, "Are going to cooperatively follow all of them, right?"

"I'm a vampire, Damon." Elena protested as he carried her over to the bed, "I can hold my own."

"Against most people or… things, yes." Damon laid her down on the bed and kicked off his shoes and pants before he joined her. "Against Charlotte, no."

"But…"

"Ssh." He kissed her deeply, molding his mouth to hers, "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

XOXO

**Up next: A Delena roadtrip and some very disturbing developments for Stefan. **

**Thanks you all for reading so faithfully. As always, I would love to hear your thoughts. Your reviews truly are my inspiration. (That and Damon and Elena against a fireplace mantle ;-) **

**~Elle**


	12. Chapter 12

**Evening wonderful readers! :-) Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I'm glad you guys liked the whole gang getting together to talk things out! And strong Elena - she has that strength inside of her. She just needs Damon to bring it out! :-)**

**As promised, we'll start the road trip this chapter and Stefan will get even darker. I hope you enjoy!**

**Thanks to my wonderful beta - Hannah Taylor1. Keep looking for updates on her story, _Begin Again_! **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. But if I did... there would be new episodes at least four times a week. No more of this once a week nonsense. ;-)**

XOXO

"I just need to know how many days you think we'll be gone," Elena insisted, rummaging through her closet, "We'll be in hotels, right? I don't want to have to go to a Laundromat."

"Elena," Damon moved behind her, catching her hips and turning her around, "I will personally buy you a new wardrobe if you run out of clothes while we're there. But… if you don't finish packing, I'm _going_ to leave you here."

She rolled her eyes, sliding her hands up his arms until she reached his biceps. "You're impatient this morning."

"Uh-huh," Damon held his phone up in front of her face. "It's after 9:00. We have a fourteen hour drive in front of us and if I remember our trip to Denver correctly, you get pretty insistent about motel stops."

"Yeah, well that worked out well for you, didn't it?" Elena rose onto her toes and reminded him of just what had happened in that motel.

"Mmph," Damon slid his hand up her back to cup the back of her head as she pressed him against her closet door. "Elena…"

She intensified the kiss and he groaned against her mouth before gently pressing her back.

"You've been stalling all morning," He ran his thumb over her lips and tilted her chin up until she had to look into his eyes. "Joining me in the shower, stopping at the Grille to say goodbye to Jeremy and Matt, compelling the principal to believe that you had an excused week-long absence…"

"I had to do something about missing school," She protested, leaning up to kiss him again and sliding her hands underneath his shirt, "Didn't I?"

He returned her kiss for moment, but then eased her back again. Looking down at her with understanding in his beautiful blue eyes, he smoothed her hair away from her face. "If you don't want to come after all, you don't have to. You can wait right here for me to get back."

Sighing, she leaned her forehead against his chest. She loved and hated how easy it was for him to see through her. "I want to come." Leaning her head back, she met his skeptical eyes. "I just hate that we have to go at all. What if we can't find her or what if we do find her and she tells us that there's no hope for me or…"

"Hey," He cut her off sharply, "Elena, you can't think like that. We don't know _anything_ yet. This little theory of Stefan's is probably pure bull – him grasping at straws because he hates that he lost you."

She bit her lip, "I know, but maybe it makes sense, Damon. Why else would I not be able to drink anything but blood from the vein?"

"I don't know." He framed her face in his hands and looked into her eyes, "But the sooner we cross this reason off the list, the sooner we can figure out the real one. Right?"

She nodded slowly and lifted one of her hands to cover his, "You're right. Sorry. I just… if we really go, then we really have to deal with whatever we find out there."

"And we will." He gave her a small smile. "_If _we ever get there…"

She smiled back and walked over to her suitcase, zipped it, and picked it up. Taking a deep breath, she looked around. "I'm ready." And she was – at least physically "Be a gentleman and load the luggage. I'm going grab the camera from Jeremy's room."

Damon tossed her a look over his shoulder. "The camera…?"

"It's a road trip." She shrugged, "We should document."

XOXO

Damon opened the trunk of the Camaro and loaded Elena's large suitcase, having to shove it in next to his substantially smaller one. As much as he enjoyed giving her a hard time about taking forever to pack, it was oddly endearing to watch her collect various things from around her room – lotions, hair bands, fuzzy socks for bed, that book she never got a chance to finish. And he was the one who got to watch her use each item.

Two days was not long enough to get used to that idea.

Closing his trunk, he glanced toward the house. "Elena…" He called to her, knowing she would pick up on his voice. "If you're hitching a ride with me, the train is leaving the station…"

The sound of Stefan's sudden arrival took Damon by surprise and he turned around slowly, finding his brother standing directly behind him.

"Stefan." He slapped the younger vampire's shoulder, "_Love_ to stay and fight, but we're hitting the road now."

"So you decided I was right. Elena is on the same path as Charlotte."

Damon took in Stefan's dark expression and steeled himself for what seemed to be an inevitable conflict. His brother was quickly losing control.

"We didn't decide any such thing," He unconsciously used the plural, noticing only when Stefan's dark eyes grew a shade darker, "Just that it was… something we should look into. You could have tagged along if you weren't such a jackass last night."

"Too insecure to handle someone telling her the truth?" Stefan loomed too close for comfort but Damon stood his ground, refusing to take a step back but not yet willing to shove his brother backward. "Afraid she'll figure it out?"

"This is pathetic," Damon rolled his eyes, fed up with Stefan's annoying persistence. "Even _you_ are better than this, Stefan. You're all about her making her own choices, aren't you? She made one. _Deal_ with it."

"What's going on, guys?" Elena walked down her front porch slowly, camera in hand. She glanced at Damon and he shook his head, warning her that the situation wasn't friendly.

"Elena, I need to talk to you." Stefan moved toward her, but Damon instinctively reached out and held him back.

"Why don't you talk to her from right here?"

"Damon," Elena moved toward the brothers, laying her hand on Damon's arm, "It's fine. What do you want, Stefan?"

The younger Salvatore shook his head, "We need to talk alone."

"Not a chance. You've got Ripper in your eyes, baby bro." Damon leaned against the back of his car. "Say what you have to say. I'll even try not to interrupt."

Elena nodded, "He's right. Whatever you have to say has to be to both of us, Stefan. You're making it hard for me to trust you right now."

Stefan clenched his jaw, staring out into the distance, "You're making bad decisions, Elena." He finally managed to get out through gritted teeth. "I'm not ready to give up on making you see that. Not yet – no matter how much you hate me for it."

"Stefan," Elena let out a sigh, "Don't do this."

"Yeah, Stefan." Damon's voice was flat. "I'd listen to her on this one."

"Do you not remember, Elena?" Stefan took a step toward her, making Damon's body tense. "When you were human, no one knew you better than I did. You never wanted this life for yourself. No matter what the cost, you wanted to stay human."

"Stefan…"

"And you never wanted Damon. You might have been attracted to him but you chose not to let yourself feel that way about him because you knew he was wrong for you."

"Stefan, stop it." Elena's voice was hard now. "That's enough."

"How many times did you tell me that I had nothing to worry about?" Stefan demanded, "That you could never feel that way about him? Now you're making all these life decisions based on some delusion that you love him. Do you remember, Elena? Do you remember the night you told me you hated him?"

Something in Damon snapped and he grabbed his brother by the throat, throwing him to the ground. Stefan fought back and they rolled over the grass, each landing blows until Damon pinned Stefan with a knee pressing on his throat.

Every fiber of Damon's being was shaking, working to keep his more violent tendencies in check. Only the fact that Elena, for some insane reason, decided to approach him at that moment and lay her hand on his shoulder prevented him from acting on his urges.

"Damon,"

He shrugged her off and glared down at Stefan, "Look at saintly Stefan embracing his inner hypocrite." Sneering, Damon increased the pressure on Stefan's throat, "You don't have a problem with her choosing to die – then it's all free will fun time. But if she chooses me, _then_ she's making a bad decision. That's just great, brother. Why don't you spell out a little clearer what you really think of me?"

"It's not about you," Stefan gurgled, attempting to throw Damon off. "It's about her. Who she really is."

"What makes you think you know who she is better than she does?" Damon demanded.

Instead of responding, Stefan finally got enough leverage to send Damon tumbling backward. Stefan was on top of his brother in an instant, his fist connecting hard with Damon's face again and again.

"Stefan!" Elena's panicked voice somehow made its way into Damon's consciousness. "Stop it! You're hurting him!"

Damon couldn't see much except Stefan's rigidly furious face and the bloodlust in his brother's eyes. But then suddenly Stefan was gone and Elena was leaning over him, running her fingers over his damaged face.

"Damon, hey," Worried brown eyes scanned his face, "I'm so sorry. Hold on to me. You're going to be okay in just a second."

"I'm fine." He managed, his injuries already mostly healed. "But I _am_ going to have to kill him now. Back up, Elena. You don't need to be a part of this."

"Damon, wait," Elena attempted to stop him as he sat up, "Just take a second."

She started to wipe the blood from his healing wounds, but he stilled her hands, blinking the blood out of his eyes, "You're welcome to try that again after the world has one less Salvatore."

"You can't go after him," Elena insisted, pressing him back down as he started to stand up, "At least not right now."

Damon looked around, "Where'd he go? What was this, a bash and run?"

"He's, uh… behind you." Elena tucked her hair behind her ear, not meeting his eyes.

Damon turned around slowly, his eyes widening when he saw his brother sprawled brokenly on the ground, his neck at a painfully awkward angle. Shocked, he turned back to Elena. "You snapped his neck?"

"Maybe…" Elena bit her lip and went back to wiping the blood off of him. "I had to stop him, Damon. He didn't leave me with a choice."

Oddly moved, Damon wrapped his long fingers around her wrist. She had fought for him. No one did that, but she was making it quite the habit. "You broke his neck." He sat all the way up, releasing her hand so that she could continue to fuss over him.

"I didn't hate you, Damon." She spoke softly, "Never. That night that I said that – it was night you killed Jeremy and I was so angry. But even then it wasn't true. I never hated you."

"I wouldn't blame you if you had, at that moment." Damon leaned in and kissed her, infusing tenderness into the gentle motions of his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and settled against him, drawing out the moment.

Seconds ticked by and then she laughed, causing him to pause and open his eyes, raising his eyebrows at her even as his lips lingered on hers. "What?"

"We have strange lives." She eased back and slid the long sleeve of her blouse over her hand so she could wipe away the rest of the blood from his face. "Somehow it's romantic that I broke your brother's neck. And just now, I actually thought that I shouldn't have wiped off your mouth before I kissed you so that I could taste the blood on your lips. And somehow that was romantic too…"

He smiled and smoothed his hands over her face, bringing her in for one last kiss. "Let's go."

"What?" Elena glanced past him, looking at Stefan. "Like go, go? Now?"

"Yep." He stood up, completely recovered. "Elena, my brother's like an instant replay. Everything he does is something we've already seen." Running his hand over his hair, he shook the grass loose from it, "When he wakes up, he'll come after me, I'll overpower him, he'll start whining about how far from grace his _angel_ has fallen in my company… then I'll be the one to snap his neck."

He took her hand and led her toward the car. "You feel the need to stick around for any of that?"

Elena glanced over her shoulder once before following him, waiting as he opened her door for her. She hesitated and he sighed, thinking he was going to have to work harder to convince her.

But she merely tilted her head, giving him a small smile. "I thought I was driving."

Letting out a snort, he reached out and swatted her butt. "In the car, delusional woman."

XOXO

"Okay, no. Just - no." Damon flipped the radio off. "Twelve _thousand_ Adele songs and that Skyscraper travesty playing on every station is more than I can take. And now this Love you Like a Love Song… _thing_. Elena, your taste in music is as underdeveloped as Stefan's muscle mass."

"What do you mean?" Elena flipped the radio back on, and Selena Gomez's opening lyrics filled the car, "This is a good song. What's wrong with it?"

"Listen to it…" Damon turned up the volume, "_'It's been said and done…every beautiful thought's been already sung_?' She's practically telling you herself that she has nothing interesting to say. Why not just take her word for it?"

Rolling her eyes, Elena batted his hand away from the radio switch. "It's got a good beat. It's… fun. It doesn't have to be deep, Damon."

"No, but it does have to be tolerable."

"Well, I like it." Elena smirked at him, "And you like me."

"Not that much."

"Hey!" Reaching out, she swatted at his arm, "Be nice."

He smirked at her, gesturing for her to come closer. "Fine – come here then."

She leaned into him and he took his eyes off the road to kiss her, one hand leaving the steering wheel to snake around her body, pulling her snug against his side.

"Mmm…" He darted his eyes toward the road, correcting the car to stay within the proper lines. The chorus of the song hit and he grinned against her mouth before singing along with exaggerated enthusiasm.

"_Oo I, I love you like a love song, baby_. _I, I love you like a love song, baby. And I keep hitting re-peat, peat, peat, peat, peat…"_

He didn't need to know how adorable and strangely sexy she found him right then so she just rolled her eyes and pushed against him, settling back into her own seat. "Well when you sing it, it _is_ ridiculous."

"Yeah - guess why." He reached behind him, fishing for something in the back seat. After some erratic groping and steering, he pulled out an old worn CD case and handed it to her. "Check out the third flap, bottom slot."

"This one?" Elena pulled out an unmarked CD, "How do you know what's on it?"

"I just know." He nodded toward the CD player. "Put it on and go to track four. I'm going to show you real music."

Smiling as she shook her head at him, she put on the CD and flipped through the tracks. "What's the song?"

"Tainted Love. The Soft Cell version – _not_ the Marilyn Manson version. This is the real stuff." Damon drummed his fingers on the steering wheel when the music began to play, "The 1980s - when music was still good."

"Sounds like the Beatles."

"A compliment of the highest order," Damon turned up the volume and rolled down the windows, "Listen to that beat – see, _that's_ a beat you can move to without seeming like an overly-energetic rabbit."

"It's not the worst thing I've heard…" Elena grinned at him and reached over to take his hand. His fingers tapped her knuckles in time to the beat and he smiled back at her as his head kept time to the song.

"_Aaahhh… tainted love. Now I know I've got to_," He bumped their joined hands against her leg, "_bah-bah, run away. I've got to… bah-bah get away_."

She laughed at his antics and let go of his hand long enough to bend down and rifle through her purse, pulling out her phone. "My turn next."

"How is it your turn?" He turned the music up louder. "Were you here for the first two hours of the trip? Because Taylor Swift was and now 'never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever' is on a loop in my head."

Flipping through her phone, she cast him a smile, "What if I find something I think you'll like?"

"Ah - then it'll have to wait," He pointed to the gas gage. "Gas light just came on. Time for a pit stop."

He got off at the next exit and pulled into a rinky-dink gas station, the sight of which had Elena wrinkling her nose.

"This place looks dirty."

"Hey, as long as they have gas pumps that work…" Damon turned off the car and gestured outside. "Come on, get out with me. Stretch those sexy legs."

She got out of the car and watched as he pulled out his wallet and paid for the gas. It was such a normal thing, yet it wasn't something she'd ever seen him to do before. Somehow he made every movement fascinating, his long fingers sliding his card into the slot, pressing the keys to enter his PIN, choosing the gas grade he wanted.

She really must have it bad if watching him pump gas was sexy.

He shot her a smile and she felt her insides melt just a little. Stepping over the gas hose, she moved to his side, joining him as he leaned against the car, her arm brushing companionably against his.

"So how long before we're out of Virginia?"

"We're right outside of Pulask right now so about another hour and a half, I'd say." His free hand slid around her waist, drawing her a little closer as his fingers slid under the fabric of her shirt and stroked the cool skin beneath. "Then it's the open roads of Tennessee."

"I've never been to Tennessee before." She looked up at him, "Have you?"

"Mmhmm. Worked there during the depression."

"Really?"

"Yep. With the Tennessee Valley Authority. We set up electric lines in the area," He trailed the line of her spine with his finger, "Fought the occasional forest fire."

Staring up at him, she found she had no idea what to say. It was so hard to wrap her mind around the idea that he'd been alive for so many decades, done so many things. She finally settled on, "Why…?"

He shrugged, "Had to do something, right? It wasn't a fun decade. There was always a party to go to during the 1920s. In the 1930s all there was to do was mope around and work odd jobs here and there."

"Wow." She thought for a second and nudged him, "Okay. New road trip game."

The gas nozzle shut off, indicating the tank was full and he stepped away from her to close the gas tank and complete his transaction. "What... no license plate game?"

"No – this is much better. Trust me. You have to tell me something interesting you did for each decade you've been alive."

He sent her a skeptical glance over his shoulder. "I think you're confusing games with conversation, Elena. Besides, the license plate game would be more exciting."

She took his shoulders in her hands as he slipped his wallet into his back pocket, "Don't be difficult. I want to know more about you." Smiling, she trailed a finger down his chest. "Please?"

"Hmph." He leaned her back against the car, sliding his hands up and down her sides. "On one condition. We have to actually make it a game."

"Mm, how?" She tilted her head, giving him better access to her neck.

His rough tongue slid over her earlobe, drawing it into his mouth. "I'll give you one story for every question you answer truthfully. No limits on what I can ask." He kissed what used to be her pulse point as his hands ran higher on her sides, "And you only get two passes. Any more than that and the game is over."

A little thrill of excitement went through her as he skimmed the sides of her breasts with his hands. "Okay," She wrapped her arms around his neck, "But I have a condition, too."

"What's that?"

"Your stories have to be as good as my answers." Her eyes closed as his mouth worked its way along her jaw, "If they aren't, then I get to ask you a question."

He smiled, bringing his lips to hers. "Fair enough."

"Hey, get a room, you two!" A rough male voice called to them from the next pump over. "Some of us have kids here."

Elena flushed bright red, but Damon only chuckled and laid one last kiss on her lips before stepping back. He lifted a conciliatory hand to the man.

"Sorry. My girlfriend – she's insatiable. Gets us into trouble wherever we go. What can I do?"

"Damon!" Elena covered her face and swatted at him as he escaped to the other side of the car, laughing at her shocked expression.

"Get in." He winked at her in a way that made her instantly more willing to forgive his teasing, "We're Tennessee bound, baby."

XOXO

While Damon and Elena caused a stir amongst the Pulaski locals, Stefan paced his bedroom, running his hands through his hair, pressing his head as he tried to fight against the urge growing inside of him. His imagination was vivid, torturing him with endless visions of Damon and Elena on the road together. Though the details differed, each possible situation resulted in the further death of the woman he'd loved. The woman who had been everything he had hoped Katherine would be the, the woman he needed to keep what little remained of his humanity dominating the seething beast within him.

She couldn't be this person. If she was then he was lost.

He stopped his pacing, turning slowly to look at the shivering creature lying on his bed. Compulsion kept her flat against the covers as securely as chains would have. He hadn't taken away her fear, just her ability to move. The soft keening sounds of misery that emanated from her served to stoke the growing desire within him to nearly unmanageable proportions.

Walking over to the woman, he let one finger wander over her neck. "I need to be stronger." He told her softly, not sure exactly what kind of strength he was talking about. "I need to not feel this way anymore and this is the only way I know to fix it."

She whimpered up at him and he shook his head.

"If I do this, you're going to die. I won't be able to stop." Bending over her, he breathed in the scent of her blood. "Are you afraid to die?"

"Please," Was all she managed to say, her brown eyes searching his, "Please don't hurt me."

"I'm sorry," He reached out and tilted her chin up. "I have to."

Suddenly crouching above her, he let her watch his face betray the predator he barely kept restrained under the surface. With a groan, he tore into her neck, letting his fangs rip a gash right over her artery. Blood spewed out at him, covering his face, filling his mouth. His instincts took over and he drank with a never-ending hunger, his hands tearing at her, pulling at her in ways that her body couldn't tolerate.

He had no idea how much time passed, but when he was done and the haze cleared, he looked down at the bloody, mangled mess beneath him, waiting for the deep-rooted remorse to take hold within him.

But for the first time, he hardly felt anything when he looked at his victim. He made no effort to reassemble her body, but simply crouched on top of it for hours, waiting for the need to kill to hit him again.

XOXO

**Sorry to end the chapter with a little splash of nasty - but it had to be done. ;-) **

**Coming up next: more road-tripping for our favorite couple, complete with more bonding and... intimacy. It will become apparent soon what's going to happen with the rest of Mystic Falls' supernaturals, also. **

**On a personal note - I've had something come up in my own life. We'll go with it being something "odd" since I'm not sure if it's good or bad yet. So if the chapters slow a bit, you'll know why. But I love this story and I love writing it for you guys and I'll definitely keep it up for as long as I think people are interested. So if I skip a day or two, I'll be back. :-)**

**I would love it if you took the time to leave me a note. It means a lot to hear from you. :-)**

**Hope you guys have happy Mondays!**

**~Elle**


	13. Chapter 13

**Did you think I had forgotten you? ;-) **

**I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update. There's this SUPER annoying thing called real life and if you ignore it long enough it rears up and smacks you upside the head. To make up for my extended absence, this is a much extended chapter – probably 3 normal-length chapters put together. **

**Damon and Elena do play their road trip game, but for the sake of keeping the plot moving, I only showed bits and pieces of it. But, just know they played it for hours and learned all sorts of things about each other. **

**So I guess I'm amongst the minority since I'm really looking forward to tonight's episode. Unfortunately I have another one of those "real-life" things I have to do instead of watching, so I'll be catching it tomorrow on Hulu. I'm really hoping the writers don't let us down! As always, if you want to talk about the show – send me a PM! I love to chat about it. Just know that I won't be reading any until after I see the episode tomorrow. **

**Thanks to Hannah Taylor1 for being a great beta, and great friend, and a great author. Check her stuff, out guys. You know you want to. **

**All right – without further ado: the chapter. I hope it's been worth the wait and I would really, really love to get your feedback. **

**Thanks to ALL of you for your wonderful reviews and your patience. You guys are awesome! **

XOXO

1:10 P.M.

It took an hour after the gas station for Damon and Elena to return to the light-hearted road-tripping place they had been before the stop. As Damon pulled back onto the highway, Elena's rang and Caroline delivered the news that Stefan wasn't answering any calls and appeared to be missing in action Despite Damon's assurances that his baby brother was just moping somewhere in the woods by himself, Elena and Caroline remained worried, chatting back and forth about any number of worst case scenarios that Damon didn't believe for a second.

When Caroline started to get on to Elena for leaving Stefan in her yard with a snapped neck where any number of horrible things could happen to him, Damon took the phone from his guilt-ridden girlfriend.

"Hi Car!" He said with exaggerated brightness as he held the phone up to his ear, "Got your panties in a twist?"

"_Don't be gross, Damon. I'm worried about Stefan. He knows he was supposed to start working with Matt and Jeremy today but he's nowhere to be found. I have a bad feeling."_

"Of course you do," Damon rolled his eyes as he merged into the left lane and sped up to avoid the slow-poke string of old-man Cadillacs that had suddenly taken over the highway. "Listen, Barbie, Stefan is busy hating himself right now. He's out killing bunnies and squirrels with a vengeance and trying to get a blood rush from their tiny veins. When he's ready to face reality, I'm sure you'll be the first to know."

"_So you think I could find him in the woods?"_

Damon sent Elena an exasperated look. "If that's how you want to interpret what I just said, then sure. Go look for him in the woods."

"_If you hear from him, will you let me know? I'm worried."_

"Oh, yes. Stefan and I call each other every other hour just to say how much we miss each other. I'm _sure_ he'll be checking in shortly."

"_You're an ass."_

He smirked, deciding he had successfully paid her back for guilt-tripping Elena. "Bye, bye now, Blondie. Happy Stefan hunting."

He ended the call and handed the phone back to Elena who took it from him with some consternation. "Do you have to be so flippant with her, Damon? She's worried."

"But there's nothing to worry about." Damon shifted in his seat, finding the right speed and hitting cruise control. "Stefan does this. He broods. He's got it down to a science and I say we just let him do this thing."

"But what if…"

He cut her off with a look. "I saw the break, Elena. It was clean. It probably healed within a minute or two of us taking off."

She didn't look convinced. "If someone came along…"

"Nobody did." He reached over and took her hand, lacing her fingers through his. "Okay?"

A soft sigh escaped her and she nodded before looking at him with a touch of nerves in her eyes. "I'm only worried because I still care about him as a friend and an important person in all our lives. You know that, right?"

He smiled and lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles. "Yeah, I know. That and your over-active guilt impulse."

She sighed and turned to look out her window, her thumb unconsciously tapping against his hand.

Clearing his throat, Damon pressed lightly on her fingers to get her to turn back around. "Look, I… care about him too. Not so much at this exact moment, but in general. Trust me, okay? He's just doing what he does."

Nodding, she leaned over and gave him a light kiss. "Okay."

"Okay." He let go of her hand and glanced into the backseat, scanning for the cooler he'd stashed. "Then how about grabbing a guy a blood bag?"

For some reason he didn't understand, she had to turn completely around to get into the cooler and he found himself driving with one hand while the other braced her from falling backward and out the windshield. He took the opportunity to run his hand over the back of her legs and her cute butt.

She swept her hair out of her face and sent him a glance. "And I'm the insatiable one?" She teased, wiggling her backside against his hand.

"I didn't say I wasn't just as guilty," He smirked at her, swiping a finger between her legs just to make her react. His teasing backfired on him when she moaned and he was suddenly tempted to pull over on the side of the road and declare an indefinite road-trip hiatus.

"Here," She finally sat back down and handed him the bag, her hair falling in disarray around her pretty face. "I hope it's worth it."

He took the bag from her and set it on his lap before raising his eyebrows. "Watch this…" Reaching behind him, he forced the cooler back open, fished around for a second and pulled out another bag, tossing it to her lightly. "I didn't realize I was asking so much of you."

She cautiously picked up the blood bag, turning it over in her hand. One of her slender fingers pressed against the bag so she could watch the blood swell. "Hmm…"

Opening his own bag, Damon took a drink, splitting his attention between her and the road. "You know, you fed on Matt yesterday so you should be fine. You've got be hungry…"

She nodded. "I am."

"Want to try it? Matt's blood is still in your system…"

She seemed gun shy, which was understandable given that she'd thrown up every ounce of blood in her stomach yesterday, and he wasn't about to push her. Chances were that she would be fine. But if she wasn't and it was his fault again, he'd be angry with himself.

"Right..." She nodded absently. "Okay. Get ready to pull over when I give the signal though."

Her attempt to joke warmed his heart and he reached over, laying his hand on her knee while she opened the bag. As she took her first draught, her eyes fluttered closed. He watched, unable to take his eyes off of her even if he'd wanted to.

She paused after the first few swallows and waited, then took another sip. "I think it's okay."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," Another sip. "It tastes a little weird. Kind of tinny. But I think it's going to stay down."

"Good," He eased the bag from her. "Let's just do a little at a time though, shall we. I have a soft spot for the interior in this car." And a desperate need to avoid causing her pain.

Quickly, he finished off his own blood bag and set hers aside, noting the way she was already eying it. Wanting her to be cautious, he decided it was time to distract her.

"So... I get a question first, right?" He settled into his seat, casually resting one hand on the steering wheel as they drove down the mostly-abandoned road.

Her eyes lifted from the blood bag to meet his. "What?"

"Your road trip game. I get a question first since I already told you a story from the thirties." He took her hand, lacing their fingers and resting their joined hands on his thigh. "So… how _stunning_ did you find me when we first met? Not the real time we first met – after you'd already gotten lovey-dovey with Stefan. Before you knew I was a vampire."

Elena rolled her eyes at him. "I already told you I thought you were attractive the first time we met. It was true the second first time we met, too. So now you've just wasted a question."

"Hold on," He cast her a glance, "More than that. Of course you thought I was drop-dead-gorgeous. Who wouldn't? I mean besides that. What'd you think of me as a… person. Did Stefan's ghost stories about me manage to turn you off?"

"Oh," She thought for a second, "No, I definitely liked you. Right away. I mean, I thought it was weird that you had this… effect on Stefan. And he told me that you were bad news and to stay away from you." Shrugging, she turned to look at him, "But when I talked to you at your house that first day you seemed… charming."

"Hmm," He tightened his grip on the steering wheel, staring out at the long expanse of road ahead, "So up until you found out I was a vampire…you liked me."

"Well," She cocked an eyebrow, "Up until you tried your 'and right now you want to kiss me' bit on me."

He let out a short laugh. "Fair enough."

"But, when you and Caroline crashed our little mini-dinner party and you came to help me put dishes in the dishwasher… I thought you were really sweet. And funny. I liked talking to you."

Damon looked out the driver's door window, pretending fascination with something invisible he'd seen on the side of the road. "Sweet, huh? That's a new one for me."

"It was something about the way you smiled," Elena mused, "It's weird, but I remember being worried for a little while that whatever had happened between you and Stefan was his fault. He was the one who got all dark and silent whenever you were around and you seemed so… fun, and nice, and normal."

"Well," Damon cleared his throat, trying not show how much her revelations affected him, "Guess you're not a very good judge of character…"

"Or," She pressed his fingers, wanting him to look at her, "I'm a great judge of character and everything else just got in the way."

His eyes softened and she leaned over, brushing her lips against his. "Right now, I definitely want to kiss you."

Smiling, he kissed her back for as long as he could without driving the car off the road. "Mmm…Elena…"

"Sorry," She flushed when she realized she was halfway on his lap and moved back to her own seat. "My turn for a story now. And I want a good one."

"Pick your decade, then." He shifted in his seat, pointedly adjusting his tightened pants. "And quickly, before I decide to pull over right here and continue where we just left off."

Her smile held just a touch of wicked achievement as she answered his question. "Well, I know about the 1920s… and now the 1930s. And you already said you met Charlotte during the 1940s, so I'm sure I'll be learning all about that soon. I'll take the 1950s for two hundred, Alex."

"Hmm, aren't you clever." He let his gaze wander over her. "1950s… let's see. That's the decade I went to college for the first time. All us veterans got GI Bills that paid for school so I figured what the heck. Might as well take advantage." Smirking, he raised his eyebrows at her. "Besides, I wanted the American dream. House in the suburbs, two cars, a 9-5 job. A hot wife and three children exactly eighteen months apart…"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah, right. You just wanted to sleep with college girls."

"No," He smirked at her, "That was when I went back to college in the seventies. Not many women in college during the fifties, honey. It was a _boys_ club."

"Do I want you to explain what you mean by that?"

Wrinkling his nose, he pursed his lips together. "Yeah, probably not."

'Didn't think so. What did you study at this boys club?"

"History." He looked over and caught her surprised expression. "It seemed like the logical choice considering I had been around for a solid hundred years at that point. I'd been alive for most of American history, and definitely all the important parts."

"So you impressed all your teachers?"

"When I showed up for class." He winked at her. "I was _almost_ as bad as you about that."

She gave him a dead-pan look. "Funny. What about when you weren't in class? Somehow I doubt you spent all your time studying…"

"Heh – no." He thought for a second, "Elvis was a big deal in that decade. We all started wearing leather and practicing shaking our hips. Songs started talking about sex instead of puppies in windows. The concerts were great that decade."

"Back when music was good, right?"

"When it was just starting to get good. People _finally_ realized hip-thrusting wasn't just under the covers in pitch-black bedrooms. It was… magical."

"Gross, Damon."

"What?" He sent her a look, "You do it too, little Miss Prim and Proper. Don't forget that I've been on the receiving end of your hip thrusts, both on the dance floor and in the bedroom. They bear a _distinct_ similarity to one another."

"Shut up." She pushed his hand away as it crept up her legs, heading toward her hips. "They do not."

The frown on her pretty lips made him laugh and he captured her antsy hand in his, rubbing his thumb against her palm. "My turn."

XOXO

3:30 P.M.

Hours had passed and still Stefan lay on his bed, surrounded by life drained away. His phone lay by his hand. Each time someone called, he picked it up and willed himself to answer it, to reach back out to something human again. Caroline called most often, leaving him messages that were increasingly worried. Matt and Jeremy had each called twice, wanting to know where they should start looking for another hunter.

The truth was he didn't care about any of it. He didn't want another hunter. He wanted to unleash Jeremy in a room of vampires and force the boy to fight for his life, killing one after another until his mark grew and the map was revealed. If need be, he would hold the boy's arm in his hand and deliver the killing blows himself. Maybe it would calm the bloodlust raging within him, drowning out all other feeling.

Caroline called again and Stefan picked up his phone slowly. He had to be smart this time around. He couldn't make it obvious that the one pulsing, dominating thought in his mind was to kill and feed. Pretending he was coping was the only way to survive in this town long enough for him to force a way to find the cure and get Elena back where she needed to be – where he needed her to be.

Steeling himself, he answered the phone with as much normalcy as he could muster.

"Caroline. Everything okay?"

"_Stefan! Thank God you answered. I was getting so worried about you. I'm halfway to your place now to check in on you. Where have you been?"_

Panic seized his insides, making his fangs instantly descend. She would smell the blood as soon as she turned onto his street. Even if he managed to clean up his mess, the scent would linger and trigger her own thirst.

"No!" He shot out of the bed, his voice so harsh the word almost came out in a snarl. "Don't come here, Caroline."

"What?" Confusion and worry melded in her tone. "Stefan what's going on? I can tell there's something wrong."

"Nothing," He managed to restrain the beast from showing through in his voice, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just not at home. Meet me at The Grille instead. Ten minutes."

"Stefan –"

He hung up his phone and changed clothes in an instant. Moving to the bathroom mirror, he washed every trace of dried blood from his face and stared at himself until his eyes returned to normal. Taking a steadying breath, he grabbed his keys out of his discarded jeans and headed for the door, throwing it open and staggering backward.

Caroline stood in the doorway, arms crossed over her chest, suspicion raging in her eyes."Don't even try it" She warned him. "Now – you tell me right now. What is going on, Stefan?"

XOXO

7:00 P.M.

"Okay, one more time." Damon held open the door for Elena as they stopped at yet another gas station, this time so that she could get something to snack on, per Gilbert road-trip tradition. "And pay attention this time."

"I have been paying attention." She shot over her shoulder as she made a beeline for the candy aisle. "I can't help it if you're not explaining it well."

Grabbing a Snickers, he held it up so that he could smell the chocolate through the wrapper. It was mildly tempting, but not enough to sway him. She, however, seemed to be highly enthusiastic about the Skittles. "There's hardly even anything to explain. In the 1930s, when _Gone With the Wind _came out, I was feeling particularly depressed and morose. Katherine had been gone long enough for me to forget her… nastier qualities. I had myself convinced that she was a little spoiled, a little petulant, but good-hearted."

Elena lifted an eyebrow at him and he rolled his eyes.

"Yes, I was an idiot. _Whatever_."

"Go on," She handed him a bag of Skittles and made her way to the chip aisle.

"Everyone was making a big deal about this great new book set in the Civil War, so one day, out of sheer boredom, I picked it up."

"I'm clear on all this part," Elena interrupted, "Get to the part where it's a story about you."

"Well, for one thing, it's set in the South in the Civil War. Point one." He paused, watching her agonize over a bag of potato chips. "Just get them, Elena. It's not like you're going to lose your figure."

She picked up the bag and handed it to him. "What's point two?"

"Point two. There's a woman – Scarlet O'Hara – who's beautiful, spoiled, and loves the attention of all manner of men."

"Okay…"

"Point Three. There's a good-hearted, saintly, boring _prick_ of a man with no obvious appeal – Ashley. Scarlet is just head over freaking heels for him, though. Right?"

"Right…"

"Point Four. The ruggedly dark Rhett Butler swoops in with this bad reputation and his whole devil-may-care attitude and rocks Scarlet's world." Damon pulled open one of the refrigerators and grabbed a regular Coke. "Here, go full flavor instead of all that nasty diet stuff you used to drink."

"Thanks," She took the bottle from him. "So… Rhett Butler."

"Right. Rhett comes in and does his thing and ends up with the girl in the end. Yeah, she marries him for the wrong reasons and manipulates him, but in the end – who does she really want?"

"She wants Rhett." Elena looked around the store. "You sure you don't want anything?"

"I'll just steal from you." He walked beside her up to the cash register and pulled out his wallet. "The point is – It's a book about a love triangle between a spoiled, rich, Southern Belle, a wishy-washy guy with a girly name, and a life on the edge bad boy who wins in the end. It's not a perfect parallel, but at its basically the story of Katherine, Stefan – notice the girly name, and me."

The greasy teenage boy behind the counter made a face and Damon flicked his card at him. "Just ring us up. Now…"

"I'd never thought of it that way," Elena nodded thoughtfully. "But it makes sense."

"Of course it does." Damon picked up the bagged food and nodded for her to walk ahead of him toward out the door. "Plus it's just a good piece of literature. Which you would know, _if_ you'd ever read it."

"I saw the movie…" Elena shrugged up at him, "Does that count."

"Not the same," He handed her the bag and opened the car door for her, leaning down to sneak a kiss as she got in, "But it helps. Kind of."

As he got in the car, he turned to her, "How did we even get on this topic?"

"Umm… I asked you about the nineties and you told me you went and watched a Civil War Reenactment. One thing led to another."

"Right," He turned on the car and pulled back out on to the road, "Then it's my turn for a question. So….tell me, Elena. When we find out for sure that you're not going the way of Charlotte, what do you want to do to celebrate?"

"Celebrate…?" Elena looked over at him, shrugging her slender shoulders, "I don't know. Maybe drinks at New Orleans best bar?"

He took his eyes off the road, relying on other senses to keep them in the right lane, so that he could stare at her. "Drinks at New Orleans best bar?" He deadpanned. "You just found out that your life-threatening diagnosis isn't likely to kill you or the rest of the city. And you're going to celebrate with a cheap hangover?"

Her defenses rose. "What's wrong with that? I like drinking at bars with you when we're out of town. It's tradition. Why – what's your big idea?"

There was no hesitation in his mind. "First class tickets to Rome. Villa La Cupola Hote Suite with a private movie theater, sauna, whirlpool and steam bath ... the best wine money can buy. Lovemaking on one of the wraparound terraces, with Rome spread out at our feet." He shot her a look. "_That_ is how you celebrate, Elena."

Her mouth gaped open. "Are you kidding? We can't go to Rome, Damon. Its_… Rome_."

One shoulder shrugged flippantly and he grinned at her. "I've got the money, honey, if you've got the time."

"You're crazy." She shook her head at him. "What… eighteen-year-old girl travels to Rome with her boyfriend to make love on a terrace? I mean, it sound amazing but there's no way we can do that…" Darting her eyes toward his, she bit her lip, "Right?"

"Elena," He reached over and laid his hand on her leg, long fingers caressing the inside of her knee, "You're not just any eighteen-year-old girl. And your boyfriend… he happens to be a 160-something-year-old guy. This is the _good_ part about being a vampire." He gestured to the general area around them, "Go anywhere, do anything, be anybody. Granted, it's a little harder if you don't have my financial resources, but lucky for you…you're with the band. And if you want Rome…" He softened his gaze, lightly pressing her leg, "Then its yours."

The fluttery intake of her breath had his eyes meeting hers. Her hand slid over his and he turned his palm over, wrapping his fingers around hers.

"Damon," She was looking at him with so much love and openness that it took his breath away, "Are you saying you want to go traveling with me?"

Smiling, he kissed the back of her hand, then turned her palm up and pressed a kiss there too. "Elena,given half a chance, I would make love to you in _every_ city in _every_ country on _every _continent. Just say go."

"Go." She responded instantly, moving toward him, Her free hand lifted to his face, sliding down to his neck, "This city, Damon. Now…" Her mouth fused to his, "Let's get a hotel."

Without question, his eyes began scanning for the next exit, all practicality about making progress on their trip flying from his mind. "Elena…" One arm snaked around her, sliding under her shirt, lifting it up to give him better access to her skin. "God…"

An exit came up and he took it, reserving only a fraction of his mental faculties to look for a hotel while the rest of his mind focused on the woman dangerously wrapping herself around him.

XOXO

8:30 P.M.

"He's still not answering." Jeremy shoved his phone back in his pocket and dragged his hand over his hair. "Why does no one ever answer their phone anymore?" He turned on an impulse and drove his fist into the doorframe of the Gilbert living room, making the wall shake and Bonnie and Matt jump.

"Jeremy, hey." Bonnie moved behind him, resting her hands on his back and slowly turning him to her. "Can you feel that?"

He did. An outside calm was flowing through him, cooling the rage that boiled just beneath his skin. Taking a deep breath, he turned to Bonnie, "Yeah. Nice trick."

"Do you still feel angry?"

"Yes," He rubbed the back of his neck, easing the tense muscles as he squeezed his eyes shut, "But I can control it. What I can't control is finding this new hunter. Stefan didn't show up all day and we've gotten nothing done."

"Hold on…," A bleary-eyed Matt gestured for them to look at the book he had been flipping through for the past three hours. "Connor wrote a note here in the margin of this book. It says, 'Are hunter marks linked?'' Matt looked up, "If they are, that should help us right?"

"It depends on how they're linked," Bonnie sat next to Matt and pulled the book onto her lap, scanning for context. "This says here that if two or more hunters are active at the same time then they gradually become in sync with each other…"

Jeremy looked up as he paced in front of the archway. "In sync how? Like telepathic?"

"No, I don't think so." Bonnie kept scanning the book, "But it's like they can anticipate each other's moves or sense the other's moods."

"How does that help us?" Matt leaned back against the couch, closing his eyes.

Bonnie bit her lip. "We need to know why Connor wrote this question in the margin. If they really are linked then it's possible that I could do a tracking spell through your mark, Jeremy. We just need to figure out _how_ they're linked…"

"Then we need Connor." Jeremy stopped pacing and narrowed his eyes his two friends-turned-babysitters. "I have to figure out a way to get him to talk to me."

XOXO

8:45 P.M.

It took an age-and-a-half to get a room at the only hotel off the exit Damon had taken. The man in charge of manning the front desk was impressively horrible at his job and even with a little helpful compulsion from Damon the whole process took a blood-cooling twenty minutes.

Room keys finally in hand, Damon handed her one, giving her a rueful smile as he leaned in and kissed her long and deep. "Our new best friend the incompetent desk clerk may have ruined our hot and heavy moment," His arms slid around her, one hand moving to cup her backside, "but I still want to make love to you in every city in every country."

She smiled up at him, encouraging more kisses. "Damon…"

"How about you go upstairs," His hand pressed her to him, giving her a preview of what was to come, "Get out of those clothes, take a long, hot shower…"

"Uh-huh," She closed her eyes, leaning against him as he kissed her neck. "Then what?"

His chuckle was low and deep, "Then I'll have brought up the suitcases… gotten us settled into the room. Maybe picked up something devastatingly romantic…"

Pulling back, he tilted her chin up. His mouth closed over hers and captured her bottom lip, pulling it into his mouth and lightly running his teeth over the sensitive skin. "Meet you in ten…?"

She nodded and with one last classic smirk he was gone. Speeding up to the fourth floor, she located their room and entered, taking a only the briefest of moments to appreciate the room. It was a good deal nicer than their motel from Denver, but nothing worth writing home about. Moving into the bathroom, she stripped out of her clothes and turned the water on at scalding levels.

When she closed the door, she saw two white robes hanging on a hook and ran her hand over the soft material. She was in and out of the shower in five minutes, skin freshly scrubbed and hair scented with lavender shampoo from tiny sample bottles. She'd heard Damon come in and leave again, so she took her time toweling off and wringing out her long hair.

Slipping on one of the overly-large robes, she made her way out into the main room, finding her luggage waiting for her on the floor. She fished her lily-scented lotion out of her bag and sat down the bed, liberally applying it to her skin as she waited. Smiling to herself, she let her imagination wander to Damon, picturing the things he might do to her when he returned.

Only a minute or two had passed before she heard his footsteps in the hall. Her breath quickened and she had to work to keep her hands steady as she finished applying lotion to one arm. He walked in and she looked over her shoulder, smiling when she saw a bottle of champagne in one hand and a single, long-stem rose in the other.

"Damon…"

He walked over to her and offered the rose as his eyes moved over her mostly exposed body.

"Thank you." She murmured, her eyes on him as she breathed in the sweet floral scent.

Damon set the bottle of champagne on the nightstand and moved in front of her, reaching for her lotion as he knelt down. "Let me."

She let him ease the bottle of lotion from her hands, watching as he pressed some into his hand. His eyes lifted to hers as he smoothed his hand over her calf and began rubbing the lotion into her skin, kneading her muscle, sliding his fingers along the inside of her knee.

He was barely touching her and already her breath was erratic. "Damon…"

"Shh," His smile teased at his lips as his hands teased at her thigh, skin slipping easily over skin. "Take off the robe and lay down."

Without hesitation, she let the fabric fall from her shoulders and moved back to lie down on the bed, eyes widening as he stood up, kicked off his boots and socks, and reached behind his head to pull his shirt off with one hand. He tossed the worn, black fabric aside and took a step closer to her, his low slung jeans making her mouth water.

"Turn over." He ordered softly as he removed his belt and let it fall to the floor.

She did as he said, taking a deep breath when she felt him kneel over her, one knee on either side of her thighs. The bed dipped under their weight and she curled her fingers in the covers, anticipation of the unknown setting her skin tingling. He reached for something and then cool lotion hit her back, followed by warm hands and long fingers that explored her muscles and the slope of her spine. He started at her shoulders, digging his fingers into the tense muscles before using the flat palm of his hand to skim over her shoulder blades. His hands moved lower, sliding along the narrow part of her waist and down to her lower back where one long finger teasingly traced from hip to hip.

She arched her hips up at him, desperate for touches more substantial than his light caresses. "Damon, please…"

"Please what?" He whispered in her ear as he lowered his chest to her back, his hands sliding back up to her shoulders, then down her arms, "What do you want, Elena?"

"Touch me," She urged, squirming beneath him as he still allowed only the lightest of caresses.

His breath was hot on her neck, "Like this?" Sliding his hands between her and the bed, he cupped her breasts, squeezing them gently in his big hands. His hands were still slick from the massage he had given her and his fingers slid along her sensitized flesh, sending flutters of pleasure through her.

"Yes," She managed to grind out the word as he toyed with her. "And no…"

Twisting her body underneath him, she turned herself over so that their chests touched. "Like this." She captured his mouth with hers and arched against him, melting under his heated response. His lips and hands devoured her, negating all logic and reason and leaving her a mass of emotion and reaction and impulse. Wrapping her legs around him, she ground her hips against his, demand and need radiating out of her.

But Damon refused to be hurried. "Elena…" He hummed her name against her skin, "We don't have to rush. There are so many things I want to do to you."

His words inflamed her need and she groaned as he flicked his tongue over her nipple before taking her breast in his mouth and tugging.

"Tell me…" She urged, cradling his head against her chest.

Moving his lips to the underside of her breast, he shook his head. "That would ruin the surprise."

Her head fell to the side as he lightly bit at her breast with his blunted teeth. "Damon, please."

Taking heed of the need in her voice, he worked his way lower, sliding down so that his head was positioned at her inner thigh. He kissed and licked the soft skin there while she buried a hand in his hair, nerves and excitement melding together in the pit of her stomach.

He started to move toward the apex of her thighs and she tensed. "Damon…"

"It's okay," His voice soothed her as his breath washed over her, riling her up again. "You've never done this before?"

She shook her head, her eyes closed. "No…"

A low noise escaped him, somewhere between a guttural groan and a possessive growl. "Good."

His mouth covered her, producing an unexpected and wonderful jolt of pure desire that spiked through her whole body. Immediately her nerves and inhibitions disappeared as he kissed her with exquisite skill and she found herself pulling at his hair and arching her hips to match his rhythm.

This man deserved an award. His name in some book of world records or a trophy or some sort of medal. Skilled didn't even begin to describe the way he was unraveling her with slow, deep, wonderful precision.

When he pulled away, she, Elena Gilbert, nearly let out an un-lady-like curse. "God, Damon, don't stop."

His only response was to kiss a path up her body, ending at her lips. Smiling against her mouth, his hand found her breast again, keeping her body teetering on the edge of fulfilled desire. "Why not?"

She wanted him too much to find the energy to protest his teasing. "I need more."

"But if I just give you more of that," He pressed his body flush against hers, wrapping strong arms around her waist as he nibbled at her ear, "How will I be able to…"

The words he whispered in her ear made her whole body flush with heat. His dirty mouth covered hers in a deliciously intense kiss as he rolled them onto their sides and slid one leg between hers. Still devouring her mouth, he took one of her hands in his, lacing their fingers before guiding her hand between them. Taking the hint, she touched him, wanting to give him the same pleasure he always gave her.

She figured she was doing it right when he bit down on her lip, groaning into her mouth. "God, Elena…"

"I love you, Damon." She spoke the words against his lips and his hand was suddenly on her hip, easily turning her over so that her back was against his chest. His mouth went straight to her neck and his hands pulled her closer, pressing her flush against the curve of her body.

At his whispered directions, she slid her top leg up, resting her foot just behind her other knee. His hand went immediately to her thigh, caressing and kneading her skin as he entered her, making her body buck back against him. With a steadying hand on her hip, he began gently making love to her, gradually sliding his hand up to caress her breasts.

"Damon…" Her eyes were shut, her face half-turned into the pillow as sensation overwhelmed her. Only one thing was missing to complete the intimacy they had created between them."Please…"

Whether he could read her mind or just needed it for himself, she didn't know, but as soon as the plea left her mouth his fangs scraped her neck and sunk in. She could feel his tongue and lips suckling blood from her and rocketed that much closer to her precipice.

"Elena," He settled his arm between her breasts and pulled her closer until his wrist rested against her mouth. "Drink, baby."

Raising her hand to his, she pulled it down until it was his palm lying open to her teeth, just as it had been the first time she drank from him. Her tongue slid across his skin and then her teeth penetrated him. Blood flowed into her mouth and out her neck while their lower bodies joined also. For several blissful moments she had no awareness beyond Damon's kiss, his touch, his blood, his body. They reached their peak together, falling in tandem while whispering words of love interrupted by gasps for air. When they had finished crashing down and their breath had begun to settle, she turned her head toward him, pressing her lips against his with all the tenderness and love she felt for him.

He brought his hand to stroke over her face, brushing damp hair out of her eyes. "Elena… I love you."

She turned to him and they wrapped their arms around each other, sinking into blissfully peaceful aftermath. His hands stroked down her back and she tucked her head beneath his chin, curling her body into his.

"You smell like lilies." She murmured softly, smiling against his skin.

He kissed her hair. "So do you."

"Yeah, but I'm allowed…" Looking up at him, she felt sheer happiness and peace and her next words took the emotional level of the moment to an unexpected intensity. "Damon, I want to be with you forever."

His eyes locked on hers and his hand lifted to her face, stroking her cheek as emotions ranged over his face. "Elena…"

"All those things we talked about today… all those stories you told me about your life… I wish I had been there for them." She brushed his hair off his forehead, trailing her fingertips along his skin. "I want to be there for the rest of your stories."

Leaning in, he kissed her with devastating gentleness. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She held him close, breathing him in. "Damon, if I am like Charlotte and I have to take the cure… how is sixty years with you going to be enough? And for half of it, I'll look like your mother. That's not how we're supposed to turn out."

For a long moment, he lay quietly, his hand running through her hair gently. "I wasn't going to tell you this, Elena… not until I knew whether it was an issue. But maybe you deserve to know."

She pulled back, looking into his crystal blue eyes.

"If you decide you have to take the cure to keep from turning into what Charlotte became…" He swallowed hard, his voice wavering just a bit, "Then I'm taking it too."

Shock kept her still and silent for a moment, but then she sat up, looking down at him as he turned onto his back. "Damon…"

"I'm done living alone and broken-hearted, Elena." He shook his head, shrugging his broad, perfect shoulders. "I won't do it again. So even if you became human and I stayed a vampire, as soon as you were gone, I would go too. If I became… human again, we could grow old together… have the life you always wanted anyway."

Words failed her as she stared at his serene face framed by hair still wild from their lovemaking. "Damon, that's a huge decision. You can't just…" Her phone rang and she closed her eyes, dragging a hand over her hair. "We're not done talking about this."

Standing up, she grabbed her phone out off of the top of the dinky television and answered it sharply. "Caroline, this is really bad timing. Is it important?"

"_Sorry – I was just letting you know that I found Stefan. You and Damon were right. He was just… doing what he does. Anyway, no need to worry! Sorry to interrupt."_

Caroline hung up without warning and Elena lowered her phone, her eyes meeting Damon's. "Did she sound… weird to you?"

His jaw flexed and he nodded. "Yeah, her voice was way too high and fast. Even for her."

"Something's wrong…" Elena sat back down on the bed, grabbing her robe and wrapping it around herself. Her eyes lifted to his. "What now?"

XOXO

**What now, indeed! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter enough to give me a pass on waiting almost four days to update. ;-) **

**One thing I have really missed this week is getting to hear from all of you – so I would love it if you would leave me a comment/review. It would make this weekend of finals studying so much more enjoyable! **

**Next chapter: Damon and Elena start out in New Orleans and we get one step closer to locating the mysterious Charlotte who holds Delena's future in her hands. Jeremy and Bonnie attempt to contact Connor and Stefan and Caroline have a little "heart-to-heart."**

**Enjoy tonight's episode! **


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello my lovely readers. :-) I hope I still have a few of you left. I'm sorry I've been away so long. By way of explanation, I offer you a list of happenings:**

**- Finals week**

**- The flu**

**- My dog got a terminal illness and passed away**

**- Other various family issues **

**Suffice to say, I've been distracted from this story. But I'm back now and I hope you're still here waiting for me like the amazing readers you are. :-) **

**This chapter explains Caroline's plan for Stefan and begins the next chapter of Damon and Elena's journey. Make sure you read all the way to the end where there's a little surprise for you. :-) **

**Thanks to HannahTaylor1 who, as always, helped make this chapter possible. She's amazing!**

**To all of you who have messaged me about the show/story - I'm heading off to respond to you right now! :-)**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. **

XOXO

Caroline approached the dungeon cell of the boarding house with caution. She'd left Stefan chained up and locked in, but considering how unpredictable he'd become, she wasn't confident that he'd given up trying to escape. Peering through the bars, she let out a sigh of relief when she saw him hunched over in the corner of the cell, hair mussed, shirt torn, limbs immobilized.

"Morning…" Caroline spoke softly, not wanting to startle him as she opened the door and quickly shut it behind her. "I brought you breakfast." Stefan didn't respond and she moved closer, crouching beside him. "Stefan…? Are you okay?"

"This selfless friendship thing is old already. I'm starving." Stefan bit out, glaring up at her, eyes wild. "No part of me is okay."

"Well, we're going to fix that." She handed him a blood bag. "Here. Breakfast."

He reached out his hand as far as it could go and grabbed it from her, ripping it open and devouring it in seconds. "One lousy blood bag?" He demanded, sucking at the remnants, the veins in his face throbbing with need. "More. I need _more_."

Ignoring him, she took the bag back and set it aside before settling herself in front of him. "Stefan, look at me. You've lost control. Your Ripper is taking over and you have to find a way to fight it."

Straining against his chains, Stefan glared at her. "I need more blood." A low groan escaped him and he switched tactics. "Caroline, help me. I need…"

"Shhh." Caroline leaned forward and took his hands. "Listen to me, Stefan. You have to hold on to what's lost control. You killed that girl and you lied to me and you tried to hide it. I found you and we fought until I stuck you with a vervain needle. I chained you up down here and I'm going to wean you off human blood. I lied to Elena and Damon. I'm covering for you at school and with our friends." Running her fingers over his, she pressed his hands. "Now tell am I doing all this, Stefan?"

"Because you're an interfering bitch."

"No." Caroline sighed, "Because you saved me, and now I'm going to save you. We're friends and I care about you. I know you're stronger than this. I know you're not going to let your Ripper take over just because a girl hurt your feelings. I know you're strong."

"You're wrong." Stefan muttered. "I want to rip out your throat."

"That's why you're locked up."

"You can't save me." Stefan snarled at her, lurching forward as much as possible with his restraints. "This is what I am. Elena was all that kept me stable and now…"

"Now," Caroline cut him off sternly, "You'll do what any other guy who's had his heart broken does. You'll freak out and then you'll find a way to cope. Unfortunately, your freak out is more intense than other people's, but we're going to work around that."

He closed his eyes, blocking her out, pulling away from her. "Go to hell, Caroline."

XOXO

11:30 A.M. New Orleans

Damon pulled into a parking space outside of the bar he remembered from 1942 and released Elena's hand so he could turn off the car. As he did so, he cast a glance at her, suppressing a sigh at her blank expression as she stared out the passenger window. She'd been like this since the night before when, hovering on the emotional cliff of their intense lovemaking, he'd confessed that he planned to take the cure with her if it ever came to that. There was a reason he hadn't volunteered this decision before. It was so like her to withdraw and analyze until she came up with a reason to feel guilty about something that wasn't her fault, and wasn't her decision.

"Everybody out." He unceremoniously undid her seatbelt as he opened his door. "A day and a half trapped in this car is more than enough."

As he stood up and stretched in the early morning air, she slowly joined him, crossing her arms over her chest as she walked over to him.

"Now what do we do?" She looked around slowly, avoiding his eyes. "How are we supposed to find one person in this huge city…?"

"Step by step." Reaching out, he took her arm and pulled her close. "Elena, look at me." She reluctantly complied and he lifted his other hand to capture her chin, letting his thumb brush her skin. "You've hardly said a word all morning which means your brain is in high analytical gear. And that spells trouble. You're upset about last night."

"I'm not upset." She pulled back, contradicting her reassurance. "I just want to get to work here."

"Elena." He sighed and leaned against the car. "Don't make me drag it out of you. You're upset because I want to take the cure with you. That means I'll eventually die and somehow in your mind, that makes _you_ responsible for my death." Tilting his head toward her, he sent her a challenging look. "Am I wrong?"

"It's complicated, Damon." She leaned against the car beside him, looking up at him. "I don't know what to feel about it. Honestly, I just need it to be something we don't even have to worry about. I need to not be like Charlotte… to not put people in danger and make you want to give up immortality…"

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her close. "This is so unlike you, but you're thinking too much. We don't know anything yet."

"That's the part that's driving me crazy."

"So you need distraction." Damon looked down at her, sliding his other arm around her as he brought her chest to rest against his. "That works out nicely since you've been too busy moping to offer me even a peck since I rocked your world last night…"

A half-smile touched her lips. "Is that a hint?"

"More of a warning," He leaned down and kissed her thoroughly, loving the way her body still melted against his. "Mm…I don't really do subtle."

Elena slid her hands down his chest, still not fully on board with his morning playfulness even as she returned his kiss. "I need to try to call Caroline again." She murmured, pressing one last chaste kiss to his lips.

With a sigh, he let her step away. His woman was nothing if not stubborn, particularly when she found something to worry over and feel guilty about. Between his revelation last night and Caroline's odd phone call followed by silence, Elena had been stewing for a solid twelve hours now and he was so over it.

"She's not going to answer." Elena sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "And Stefan won't answer either… no one's heard from them…"

"And we're in New Orleans." Damon moved behind her, slipping his arms around her and kissing beneath her ear. He lifted one hand to take her cell phone from her and slip it in his back pocket before he hugged her again. "Whatever is going on at home, we can't do anything about it right now. We're a day and a half from everyone and we have important things to do here." He kissed her neck, her cheek, determined to elicit some kind of response out of her. "Do you want answers or not?"

She turned toward him, wrapping her arms around his neck and radically changing the subject. "Damon, I'm not worth dying for. What if you took the cure and then I got sick and died in five years and there you were… human and alone. Or what if you die? Not at eight-five, but at thirty. In a car accident or something." Elena leaned her forehead against his. "How would I live with myself?"

"Elena." He took her chin, tilting her face up. "You and I could both die tomorrow. Living the lives we lead, we're never invincible. Quit worrying about all the what-ifs before it's an issue and take this for what it is." His thumb brushed over her bottom lip. "…Me loving you more than anything."

A smile touched her lips and she sighed against his neck as she burrowed into him. "That part I like."

For a long moment, he held her tightly, running his hand up and down her spine. "Come on." He finally murmured, "Let's track Charlotte down and get home so we can cross a handful of things off your list of stuff to worry about. Not that you won't fill it right back up."

She smiled up at him as she pulled back, running her hand over his face. "Silver lining… I bet you'd make a really hot middle-aged guy if you did have to take the cure."

"Heh…" He closed his eyes and groaned. "That'll take some getting used to. I _have_ enjoyed being permanently twenty-four and studly." As they started to walk into the bar, he slid his hand to cup her backside. "Permanently at my sexual peak…"

"I felt like I was permanently at my sexual peak last night…" Elena stage whispered as they walked into the dinky little building and Damon let out a shocked laugh, swatting her butt.

"Naughty girl."

XOXO

"Don't look now," Damon walked up behind Elena as she sat at the nearly deserted bar, leaning down to whisper in her ear, "But the one guy at the far end of the bar, that's Benjamin. Born in the early 1700s, he's been in this area since it was French territory. He owns this bar and a small fortune, from what I remember. Charlotte was one of his little pets but he never much cared for me." Damon slid his hands over her arms, "No idea how he's going to react to our upcoming reunion."

"So how do we get through to him?" Elena looked over her shoulder, brow furrowed.

"This is a good start." Damon leaned down and kissed her cheek. "He's an old-fashioned, romantic kind of guy. Wanted me to do right by Charlotte and settle down with her if I was going to be with her. He could tell I wasn't serious about her."

Elena closed her eyes as Damon kissed along her jaw. "And how does this help…?"

"He's watching." Damon whispered very quietly in her ear. "He recognizes me. We couldn't look more settled… see how I can't keep my hands off you?"

"Can't he hear you?" Elena tilted her head, giving him better access to her skin. This was a plan she could take little objection to.

Damon circled around to stand between her legs, cupping her face in his hands as he continued to demonstrate his affection for her. "He became a vampire when he was fifty, which was already really old in his day. Most of his hearing was already gone, which means there wasn't much to amplify. He hears about as well as a human." He pressed his lips to hers. "For all he knows, I'm whispering cliché romantic platitudes to you right now."

For a moment Damon seemed to get caught up in kissing her and Elena smiled up at him, holding onto his arms as he stroked her hair out of her face and ran his fingertips over her skin, his baby blues gazing at her. His sigh took her off guard as he leaned in for one more kiss. "Here he comes."

As he started to move away from her, she reached for his hands to keep him close, unintentionally playing into his plan to show off their relationship. Their fingers laced as a stocky man approached them from the left.

"Damon Salvatore." Benjamin rasped, crossing his arms over his barrel chest as he loomed in front of them. "Never thought I'd see you in these parts again. And look who you have with you."

"Benjamin." Damon smiled and gestured toward Elena. "Didn't I always tell you I'd find a way? This is Katherine."

XOXO

**Told you to read to the end. ;-) So I hope this regenerates your interest in this story. Look for updates soon - I'm back on track. **

**Thank you to EVERYONE who reviewed and sent message during my absence. It means a lot and I'm headed off to respond now. **

**I would sincerely love your feedback. Comments/reviews are the best gift you can give an author! :-)**

**~Elle~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Wow! This latest chapter got more reviews than ever. Thanks everyone! I'm beyond excited that you all are still following this story. :-)**

**So we get some explanation for the Katherine bit in this chapter, but mainly we just open a can of worms that these two are going to have to work through. And... this is the last chapter before we get to Charlotte! :-)**

**Thanks, as always, to Hannah Taylor1 for being an awesome beta. As a little teaser, she and I are working on a joint piece right now that's SO fun. So look for that at some point. **

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

XOXO

Elena didn't need air to live, but she was still in the habit of breathing. So when Damon's words knocked the breath out of her, she floundered for a minute, barely refraining from a gasp. His hand tightened on hers, warning her to get control, and that allowed the first spike of anger to break through her shock. She pulled her hand from his, fixing a glare on him that would have withered a lesser man than Damon Salvatore. His blue gaze held hers and spoke volumes silently, conveying the importance of her cooperation while offering no explanation.

"The famous Katherine Pierce." Elena barely contained herself as Benjamin studied her. "I hope you know this man tortured himself for decades over you. Seems it was all worth it in the end." He extended his hand. "It's very nice to meet you. I can see why Damon could never commit to anyone else."

Elena forced herself to take his hand and shake it. "It's nice to meet you, too." She managed. "Your bar is lovely."

"It's an abandoned run-down dump." Benjamin chortled. "But for a lovely lady like you, we can break out some of the good stuff I've been saving. Nothing makes my old dead heart happier than seeing real love walkin' into my bar, especially since I always had to give this one such a hard time about how he treated the ladies. You two sit tight and I'll be right back."

Benjamin walked away and as soon as he was out of sight, Elena instinctively fled, jumping off her stool and heading for the door, holding Damon off when he came after her. "Leave me alone." She hissed, traitorous tears welling in her eyes as she started to push open the door.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her to face him, his eyes searching hers. "Elena, I'm _sorry_. I wanted to warn you, but I didn't think you'd go through with it. You don't understand Benjamin."

"I don't care about Benjamin." She pushed away from him again, her eyes shooting daggers. "You called me Katherine, Damon. How do you think that makes me feel? You needed him to believe I was the love of your life so you called me _Katherine_…"

"It's not like that." Damon snagged her hand, keeping her near. "My… delusional love for Katherine was the only excuse Benjamin would ever accept for me treating Charlotte the way I did – up and leaving her when she wanted to get serious. I showed him her picture and waxed pathetic about how she was the only woman who would ever hold my heart." His eyes pleaded with her to understand. "Elena, he may not look like much, but he's a vampire with powerful connections and a web of knowledge that we need. Now seventy years later if I walk back in with a woman that's not Katherine and ask him to help me save her because it turns out she's the one I really love… I'm not going to get Charlotte's address, I'm going to get vervain and retaliation.

Lifting his hand to her face, he tucked her hair behind her ear. "We need him to believe that I only want to find Charlotte to reminisce and offer all of us closure. He _needs _to think that I want to find her so I can show her the reason I left her… to make my way back to you."

Ice filled her veins and she pulled away from him again. "Your way back to Katherine, Damon. Not me."

"You know that's what I mean." He took a step toward her, "Elena, it's just a lie. It has _nothing_ to do with us other than helping us find Charlotte so that I can keep you…" He cradled her cheek in his hand, pulling her closer. "Without his help, I don't even know where to start looking for her."

"Here we go," Benjamin walked out of the back of the bar, a dusty old bottle of whiskey in his hand. "The good stuff. Katherine, Damon told me you could really handle your whiskey. That's something I'm going to have to see."

Elena stood, shielded from sight by Damon, his eyes boring down into hers, asking her to please go along with him. Her heart was torn between hurt and hope, truth and lie, insecurity and understanding. She wanted to help him, to not make him regret that he'd agreed to bring her here. But the idea of playing her doppelganger counterpart repulsed her, especially if she had to play her as Damon's lost other half that he had gained back and loved more than anything.

The silence was growing awkward and Damon cleared his throat, sweeping his thumb over her skin. "What do you say? Are you up for a drink… Katherine?"

XOXO

Damon was miserable. He was making conversation with Benjamin on autopilot while his mind and his gut twisted with guilt over what he'd done to the woman sitting silently on the barstool beside him. She'd agreed to the pretense he'd begun and had, as Katherine, accepted and sipped at the drink Benjamin had given her. But then she'd fallen silent, participating in the conversation only when directly asked a question. She refused to let him touch her, subtly shifting away or dislodging him each time he'd tried.

He should have realized – thought his plan through even a little bit. Of course he'd known that she'd be upset that he'd formed a plan without her and that she had to play Katherine for who knew how long. What hadn't crossed his mind was the possibility for the abject hurt on her face as she accused him of claiming Katherine as the love of his life. It was so clear in his own mind – his feelings for Katherine in comparison to his feelings for Elena. There wasn't even a comparison.

But now for the first time he was questioning her security in that. Was it possible that after everything, Elena Gilbert could feel threatened by the woman that had destroyed the better portion of his existence?

Damon looked over at Elena, trying to catch her eye while she studiously avoided him. Under the ledge of the bar, he reached his hand to her knee, squeezing her leg affectionately, hoping to draw some response. She took a large swallow of her drink and deliberately loosened his fingers, pushing his hand off her.

"Damon was right, Katherine." Benjamin stopped mid-story to comment on Elena's sudden thirst. "You can hold your whiskey. Want more?"

"Please." Elena slid her glass toward him. "Can't get enough after 150 years in a tomb, you know. Lots of time to make up for."

Damon winced at the sharp tone to her voice in spite of his amusement at her bitter wit. "No need to overdo though, right, _sweetheart_?" He laid his fingers against her wrist as she started to lift her glass again, not wanting her to make herself sick. Her little body wasn't used to whiskey, much less dose after dose. "We have so much to do while we're in town."

"That's my Damon." She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile. "Always looking out for my best interests." Lifting an eyebrow, she downed the whiskey anyway. "Even when he should really just leave me alone."

Pushing her seemed like the wrong choice right now so he dropped his hand from her as he turned back to Benjamin, deciding to cut the chit-chat and get down to business. "So, we want to catch up with some people while we're here. How is Charlotte these days? I've been waiting a long time to introduce her to Katherine…"

The shift in Benjamin was instantly perceptible. "You know Charlotte, Damon. You don't find her, she finds you."

"Sure." Damon nodded thoughtfully. "It's just… with the way everything ended all those years ago… "

"You mean when you walked out on Charlotte without warning?" Benjamin poured himself another glass. "Left her a note about needing to cut ties and keep moving toward Katherine?"

"That'd be it…" Damon glanced at Elena who was at least listening with interest now. "No better way to make up for past wrongs than introducing a little closure for everyone." Taking a chance, Damon wound his arm around Elena, holding her affectionately. "Besides it's hard to hold a grudge when you see how happy everyone turned out, right?"

It was nauseating to have to play this sappy little game, but it was starting to work on Benjamin. Considering cautiously, the old bartender started cleaning up their drinks. Finally, he shook his head. "You know I can't give you her location. But I'll tell you what. Tell me where you're staying and I'll get in touch with her. If she wants… closure, then she'll come find you."

"Fair enough." Damon agreed instantly as Elena pulled away from him again. "We'll be staying at the Marriot just up the road a little bit. Indefinitely. Tell Charlotte we'd really like to see her."

Benjamin shrugged noncommittally. "I'll see what I can do. Now." He looked between Damon and Elena. "You two loiterers get outta my bar before the lunch rush comes in. I can barely handle my six usuals. With you two here, it'll just be chaos."

"We're headed out anyway." Damon laid some cash on the counter and reached his hand out to help Elena up. She stood up without his assistance. "Good to see you, old man." Clapping Benjamin on the back, he shook the man's offered hand. "Maybe you, me, Charlotte and Katherine can all get together before we leave."

"That'll be up to the boss." Benjamin reached for Elena's hand, kissing the back of it lightly. "My dear, allow me to say you certainly seem to be worth waiting for. It must be an honor knowing a man would stop at nothing to be allowed to love you."

"Thanks." Elena said shortly, casually pulling her hand back. "Nice to meet you."

Before her lack of enthusiasm could give him away, Damon roped his arm around her and guided her toward the door and out into the New Orleans sunshine with a last wave for Benjamin. As soon as they were out the door, she pulled away from him and stalked over to the car, impatiently waiting for him to unlock the doors.

"Elena…" He attempted to approach her but she warned him away with a chilling look.

"Don't, Damon." Her voice wavered, betraying the vulnerability behind her icy mask. "I just want a hotel room and a hot shower and as little contact with you as possible."

His jaw tightened and he ran his hand over his hair. "Elena…we need to talk about this. If you will just calm down and come _here_, I can fix this."

"I don't want it fixed." Elena turned away from him so he wouldn't see her tears, but it was too late. He'd already seen them and hated himself for causing them. "I don't want to talk to you about this right now, Damon. I just want to be angry and hurt and alone but I can't do that because we're in New Orleans and I can't go home and lock myself in my room like I should be able to."

As much as it killed him, he knew he should give her what she was asking for. He of all people understood the desire to retreat when hurt, and there was no denying that he'd hurt her, however unintentionally.

"Fine." He bit out, his anger at himself and the situation translating into his voice. "_Get_ in the car, Elena. I'll get you checked in to the hotel and then leave until you're ready to talk. As long as you promise to stay in the room."

For a minute she just seemed shocked at his capitulation, but then she gave a tight nod. "Fine."

XOXO

12:45 P.M.

Caroline winced as Stefan snagged her wrist and yanked her to the ground. She'd gotten too close to him and now she was paying the consequences as he bashed her wrist against the concrete, shattering the bones.

"Stefan, stop!"

"How much clearer do I have to make myself, Caroline?" He hunched over her as much as his restraints would allow. "I want out. I need more blood. I'm _starving_."

Caroline closed her eyes as Stefan tossed her across the room. He didn't have good leverage, so she didn't go far and her landing was gentle enough. As she stood up, she cradled her broken wrist in her hand, letting it heal completely with a few last twinges of pain. When she was injury free again, she lifted her eyes to Stefan. "You're not starving. Your body is full and satisfied. It's the Ripper that needs more blood and you have to control it, Stefan."

Moving slowly, she went over to him again. When he didn't immediately move to attack her, she crouched and laid her hands on his face, forcing him to look at her. "I'm going to leave you here for right now and you're going to be alone. But I will come back, Stefan. And we will keep getting you under control. Look at you." She offered a shaky smile. "You're letting me touch you without hurting me. That's step one."

"Just let me go, Caroline." He rasped, closing his eyes. "This is who I am - it's the only way I can stand to be."

"I can't do that." Caroline leaned down and risked an awkward hug, her lips at his ear. "The day you first came to town, you brushed me off, Stefan. I let you go because Elena was all you could see. But I'm not giving up on you so easily this time. You'll see… maybe you made the wrong choice at that first party two years ago. I'm going to fight for you every bit as hard as you fought for her."

XOXO

"Jer, you have to try harder." Bonnie grasped the younger boy's hand and held on. "We have to get through to Connor. With Stefan out of the picture, we don't have any other options."

"Still not answering." Matt sighed, tossing his phone down on the couch. "Caroline either. I don't like this. What angle could they be working on together that they can't tell us about?"

"Whatever it is, I hope it's working better than what we're doing." Jeremy muttered, leaning forward and resting his head in his hands. "I don't know how to try harder, Bonnie. I'm reaching out to him and he's not pushing back. It's not like I can make him."

"I know…" Bonnie sighed, looking over at Matt. "But we have to talk to him if we're going to figure out how the hunters's marks are connected. And with Damon and Elena gone and now Caroline and Stefan being all secretive… the sooner we can find this cure and figure out how to piece our lives back together, the better."

"Is there any other way?" Matt flopped down on the couch, resting his arms behind his head. "Like a spell or something?"

Bonnie bit her lip, looking at Jeremy. "We could try a séance. If we can reach him that way, we might be able to ask him to push toward you, Jer."

Jeremy shook his head. "No. The last time you did a séance, you ended up possessed. It's too risky."

"It's different this time." Bonnie insisted, looking over her shoulder at Matt. "It's less personal. This could actually work."

"Then let's do it." Matt sat up with a sigh. "Let's have a séance."

XOXO

Elena folded her arms over her chest as she followed Damon into the hotel lobby and stood several feet away while he addressed the man at the desk. Her sense of betrayal had only grown on the ride over, despite Damon's willingness to give her space. Listening to everything Benjamin had said about Damon's feeling for Katherine, hearing how committed Damon had been to Katherine… it brought up a slew of feelings she hadn't even realized she'd had.

It was so long ago and so much had happened since then it that it was easy to forget that Damon had only come back to town to free his one true love. Katherine had power over him. Even after he'd realized her betrayal, he'd been willing to be with her again. Then when he'd left town after their fight over her trying to turn him into Stefan all those months back, he'd left with Katherine – he'd even told her that he'd kissed Katherine again that night, just hours before he'd promised never to leave her again.

There was no doubt in her mind that Damon loved her – Elena. But she'd never stopped to wonder how much of that was because he'd transferred his feelings for Katherine onto her. Or how his love for her compared with a century and a half of devoting everything he had to Katherine. If her Petrova doppelganger waltzed back in and wanted him, what would that mean for him? For her?

And why hadn't he just told her what he was planning? Why had he called her Katherine at every opportunity?

Her mind was spinning, insecurities leaping out of crevices she hadn't even known were there.

"We'll take your nicest room." Damon shoved his card across the counter. "For an extended stay."

"Of course." The young man behind the counter smiled politely, taking the card and peering at the name with interest. "Right away, Mr. Salvatore."

"Umm…" She stepped forward on impulse. "We need two rooms, actually. The second one doesn't have to be nice. Just… whatever you have."

Damon's shocked expression hurt but she didn't take back her decision and he finally nodded tightly at the hesitant receptionist.

"Yep. Two rooms, then. Why not."

The hurt in his voice broke her heart and she found herself reaching out to touch his arm. This time it was him who stepped away, accepting his card back without looking at her. They got their room numbers and their keys and Damon walked back out to the car to get their luggage, leaving Elena standing in the lobby utterly alone.

The walk up to their rooms was painfully silent. Her room was on the third floor and Damon walked her down the hallway, her suitcase in his hand. When she opened the door for him, he entered just long enough to set her suitcase down on the bed. As she followed him inside she realized that he was giving her the nicer room with full accommodations, a separate sitting room, and a huge bathroom complete with whirlpool tub.

"Damon, I don't need…"

"Save it, Elena." His voice was sharp and he was already heading for the door. "Just stay in the room. Leave, and I reserve the right to violate your need for space all over New Orleans."

"Wait." She moved toward him, tears in her eyes. "This isn't because… it doesn't mean…" She closed her eyes, trying again. "I still love you, Damon. So much."

His hand was already on the doorknob, but he stopped and turned back to look at her. "I love you, too. So call me when you're ready to start chasing again…"

XOXO

***sigh* Sad Delena. Don't worry - we'll fix it soon. After all, how can Elena really think for any length of time that Damon isn't devoted to her and only her? Silly, insecure woman. :-)**

**Coming up: Hello Charlotte! And the beginnings of some Delena resolution. **

**Thanks to all of you who were so nice about the delay, particularly in regard to my dog. I appreciate your thoughts and condolences. Losing a pet is always hard, especially when it's so sudden. Thanks for your concern. :-) **

**I would love to hear from you all. Your feedback is my biggest inspiration!**

**~Elle**


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